Radio Ambulante

Spanish-language podcast

Radio Ambulante is a Spanish-language podcast which publishes stories about Latin America. It is created primarily by the Peruvian writer Daniel Alarcón. The first three seasons were launched in 2012, and since 2016, Radio Ambulante has been distributed weekly by National Public Radio.[1][2]


Format

Radio Ambulante is a narrative podcast based in San Francisco, which combines storytelling with investigative journalism.[3] Among other things, it deals with themes like human rights, immigration, political and socioeconomic crises, gender identity and mental health. It publishes 24 episodes in each season, generally between 25 and 55 minutes; as of May 2019, it had produced almost 140 episodes.[4]

History

In 2007, the BBC invited Daniel Alarcón to make a radio documentary about the migration of Peruvians from the Andes to Lima. The final product was published in English,[5] and many of the Spanish interviews that he had done weren't used or were doubled over by actors. Later, in an interview with The New York Times, Alarcón recalled being frustrated by having to tell a story from Latin America without more Spanish-speaking people.[6]

The idea to create Radio Ambulante came on January 11, 2011, in San Francisco, according to Alarcón and Carolina Guerrero (the CEO).[7][8] Months later, the journalist Annie Correal became the cofounder. They also hired Martina Castro[6] as cofounder and sound designer for the podcast, and in January 2012, Camila Segura joined as well.

With a team of five employees and a pilot season, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the first season. The campaign received more than 600 donations, which totaled to over $46,000.[8][9]

As of 2015, the podcast has 1.5 million annual downloads. In 2016 they joined National Public Radio, the public radio station of the United States, and since then the show has had over 5 million annual downloads and a team of 23 employees.[10]

Collaborations

Radio Ambulante has collaborated with other organizations to create content, such as Radiolab,[11] Univisión Data,[12] Soros Justice Fellowship,[13] and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.[14][15] They also worked with the writing Silvia Viñas, who also wrote an article for The New York Times about her experience on the show.[16]

Other projects

Listening Clubs

Listening Clubs are a new project of Radio Ambulante, which were launched in February 2019.[17] The goal is for listeners to meet up and talk about Radio Ambulante episodes and their relationship to the communities surrounding the clubs themselves.[18] The project started in five pilot cities: New York, Mexico City, Medellín, San José, and Quito. The later founded it in Bogotá, Lima, Guatemala City and Madrid.

Radio Ambulante School

Radio Ambulante School is a space for learning to create in an audio format.[19] It covers the basic principles of podcasting, from how to find a story to record to the basics of Hindenburg Pro, the program used by Radio Ambulante to edit their episodes. Radio Ambulante School also collaborates with Transom.org, an organization which has shared and translated their articles to help for a community of Spanish-speaking journalists.

Podcast Club

The Podcast Club is a private group in Facebook which shares and discusses the episodes of Radio Ambulante every week. They also recommend other podcasts in the regions, good practices for telling stories by audio, or other content related to storytelling or the theme of the current episode. Every week they organize videoconferences with the producers of the episode,[20] or at least with some of the most important people in that week's story.

Awards

  • 2014: Gabriel García Márquez Prize for Journalism, in the category of innovation.[3]
  • 2017: Simón Bolivar National Journalism Prize, in the category of radio investigative journalism. Episode: "Doctor, is this normal?"[21]
  • 2017: Best Foreign Language Award, Third Coast Festival, Episode: "The Cassettes from Exile."[22]
  • 2020: Best Spanish Language Podcast, iHeartRadio Podcast Awards[23]

References

  1. ^ Lapin, Andrew (November 15, 2016). "'Radio Ambulante' joins NPR distribution as network's first Spanish-language podcast". Current. Retrieved February 12, 2021. NPR will distribute, market and promote Radio Ambulante on its website, through the NPR One app and on iTunes and other podcast platforms beginning with the program's season premiere Nov. 22. The formal announcement was preceded by an NPR marketing push for the show at the Third Coast International Audio Festival conference, with a network-sponsored happy hour Saturday in Chicago.
  2. ^ Mullin, Benjamin (November 15, 2016). "NPR adds 'Radio Ambulante' to podcast lineup". Poynter. Retrieved February 12, 2021. "Radio Ambulante," the Spanish-language radio show co-founded by novelist-journalist Daniel Alarcón, will be distributed by NPR, the public radio network announced this morning. The addition fits with NPR's slate of high-quality narrative journalism and gives the broadcaster an entreé to more than 50 million Spanish speakers living in the U.S., Anya Grundmann, NPR's vice president for programming and audience development said in a press release.
  3. ^ a b "Radio Ambulante, ganador del Premio Gabo 2014". Premio y Festival Gabo (in Spanish). 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  4. ^ "Transcripción – "Hagamos esa vaina de la radio"". Radio Ambulante (in European Spanish). 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  5. ^ "Radio Ambulante". Literal Magazine. 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  6. ^ a b null (2017-09-27). "Radio Ambulante, donde los latinoamericanos cuentan América Latina (Published 2017)". The New York Times (in Spanish). ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-12. En enero de 2011, Guerrero y Alarcón le enviaron una serie de correos a diversos periodistas de América Latina en los que explicaban que querían hacer radio de una forma diferente. Detallaron el formato de los podcasts y lo plantearon como una posibilidad de llevar la estética y la profundidad de las crónicas periodísticas a la radio. Al día siguiente ya tenían muchas propuestas de historias y se prepararon durante un año para presentar la primera temporada junto a Annie Correal y Martina Castro, cofundadoras de Radio Ambulante.
  7. ^ Babbel.com; GmbH, Lesson Nine. "An Interview With The CEO Of Radio Ambulante". Babbel Magazine. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  8. ^ a b Egaña, Crysly (March 5, 2021). "Radio Ambulante: una década de riguroso contenido artesanal". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "Retrospectiva 1". Radio Ambulante (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  10. ^ "Sobre nosotros". Radio Ambulante (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  11. ^ "VIDEO: Radiolab Presents: Radio Ambulante | Radiolab". WNYC Studios. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  12. ^ Univision. "Esta empresa dice que reunifica familias inmigrantes, pero enfrenta investigaciones por fraude y engaño". Univision (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  13. ^ "Foundations Announce 2013 Soros Justice Fellows". www.opensocietyfoundations.org. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  14. ^ "The Long Road from Cuba". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  15. ^ "The End of the Journey". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  16. ^ null (2018-01-16). "La visita del papa a Perú vuelve a poner a la luz los casos de abuso en el Sodalicio (Published 2018)". The New York Times (in Spanish). ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  17. ^ "Radio Ambulante". Eventbrite. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  18. ^ "Radio Ambulante, un espacio para escuchar las historias". El Comercio. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  19. ^ "Para escuchar más historias, Radio Ambulante inaugura escuela virtual • Semanario Universidad". semanariouniversidad.com (in Spanish). 7 June 2017. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  20. ^ Radio Ambulante on Facebook Watch, retrieved 2021-02-14
  21. ^ "Premio Nacional de Periodismo Simón Bolívar - edición 42, año 2017". premiosimonbolivar.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  22. ^ "Third Coast International Audio Festival". www.thirdcoastfestival.org. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  23. ^ "iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 2020 Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-15.

External links

  • Official website
  • Radio Ambulante on Twitter
  • Radio Ambulante on Facebook
  • Radio Ambulante on Instagram