Pitch Us: Undark
The Undark Podcast continues its mission of illuminating the places where science intersects with our everyday lives by delivering — once a month from September to May — a feature-length exploration of a single, fascinating topic at this convergence. Scientific questions and challenges are woven deeply into our politics, our economics, our culture — and they are animated by a wide spectrum of competing values and interests. Our goal is to present rich, narrative-driven audio stories of science as it manifests amid that push-and-pull of human society.
We’re always seeking pitches for upcoming episodes. If you’re an experienced audio journalist with a proven track record producing feature-length audio documentaries, we encourage you to bring your ideas to us. We’re looking for stories with a mix of sound from real people out in the world and good conversations with experts and decision makers. Successful pieces will deftly navigate scientific and technical details, while making them both captivating and relevant for our general audience.
All of Undark’s journalism is vigorously fact checked, including our podcasts.
FEE: For a 25-minute story, including a short, scripted conversation with the host, we offer $3,000.
Ideas can be submitted using our online portal. In addition to a description of the narrative, please include some specific ideas for scenes, a rough story arc, and ideas for field recordings. If you have a main character in mind, tell us what makes them compelling. And, in keeping with our editorial mission, we’ll be looking for strong angles covering science, society, and the place where those meet. Please also include links to some of your previous work.
Not sure if your idea is right for Undark? Just ask our producer, Lydia Chain, or read some of Undark’s recent Case Studies to get a sense of the kinds of stories we like to tell.