Season One of the New Podcast Will Explore the Salem Witch Trials
New York - September 26, 2018 - iHeartMedia, the leading audio company in America which also has a greater reach in the U.S. than any other media outlet, today announced the upcoming launch of Unobscured, a new iHeartRadio Original Podcast produced in collaboration with HowStuffWorks. Unobscured will be a narrative documentary series written and hosted by Aaron Mahnke, creator of Lore, an award-winning, critically-acclaimed podcast about true life scary stories. Unobscured will launch October 3, 2018 and trailer is available now.
For its inaugural season, Unobscured will explore the Salem witch trials, one of the darkest and least understood chapters in American history. Mahnke will use his signature storytelling to pull back the layers of time and introduce the individuals, traditions and superstitions that together tell the complete story of what really happened in Salem.
Scored by Billboard No. 1 classical pianist Chad Lawson, each of the 12 episodes are intertwined with interviews from the world’s foremost scholars on the Salem witch trials. iHeartMedia and HowStuffWorks have plans to bring this same narrative documentary approach to other misunderstood historical moments through future seasons of Unobscured.
"The Salem witch trials is one of the most infamous and intriguing pieces of early American history, and yet there’s so much about it that we’ve forgotten," said Aaron Mahnke, podcast creator, producer and host of Unobscured. "Through Unobscured, I hope to give those dark events a moment in the spotlight and show just how relevant they still are today."
This announcement comes on the heels of the news that iHeartMedia is acquiring Stuff Media, LLC, the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content, which includes the HowStuffWorks (HSW) podcasting business as well as a slate of premium podcast content.
“This is a momentous time for iHeartMedia and HowStuffWorks, having just announced that we are acquiring Stuff Media,” Darren Davis, President of iHeartRadio and iHeartMedia Networks Group. “With HowStuffWorks’ expert content producers and iHeartMedia’s unparalleled reach and expertise in all things audio, the caliber of our collaboratively-produced podcasts will be unprecedented. Unobscured is the introduction to this new chapter in podcasting for iHeartMedia and HowStuffWorks."
Unobscured host Aaron Mahnke is the creator, producer and host of the hit podcast Lore (Best of iTunes 2015 & 2016) as well as Executive Producer of the Lore television show on Amazon (from the producer of The Walking Dead) and author of The World of Lore book series (Penguin Random House / Del Rey). Unobscured will be the second podcast produced by HowStuffWorks and Mahnke, the first being Cabinet of Curiosities. Visit HistoryUnobscured.com to learn more.
iHeartRadio is partnered with all major podcast publishers and features more than 20,000 podcasts ranging from NPR and WNYC to ESPN and Gimlet. The iHeartRadio Podcast Network also hosts more than 750 iHeartRadio Original shows. With iHeartRadio, listeners can enjoy their music and podcasts across more than 250 unique platforms including in-car, in-home, on wearables, across gaming consoles and more – making their favorite audio content available everywhere they are, on the devices they use most. Visit iHeart.com/apps to download iHeartRadio and listen to the trailer for Unobscured on your favorite device.
About Stuff Media
Stuff Media is the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content. With more than 30 brands, including Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Atlanta Monster and Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities, the Stuff Media team reaches a highly engaged fan base across multiple platforms and distribution partners and has amassed a library of more than 10,000 podcast episodes and driving more than 1 billion downloads to date.
With this expansive and award-winning collection of audio podcasts, Stuff Media’s HowStuffWorks is ranked #2 in global downloads and streams. Stuff Media is headquartered in Atlanta, and also operates studios and teams out of Los Angeles and New York.