, Distinguished 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Professor of Communication of Science and Technology and creator of award-winning series like Radiolab, More Perfect, Dolly Partonās America and Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, set out in life to be a composer.
Perhaps a poet, maybe a fiction writer, but it was music, Abumrad said, that was ārunning through me constantly.ā
He spent his tween-age years logging hours at the piano in a practice room at āa creative solution to childcare from parents who were both 91ĢĘ²®»¢ faculty.
As a University School of Nashville student tasked with finding an internship, he wandered into live recording sessions on Nashville’s Music Row and listened in.
Music was running through me constantly. āJad Abumrad
At Oberlin College, he studied music composition and creative writing, and after graduation, he took a stab at composing and magazine writing in New York City. The real world had other plans.
āOut of school, I ended up trying to do both and realized that itās really hard, so I kind of failed at both,ā Abumrad said. āMaybe thatās putting it too strongly, but I just couldnāt get any traction writing music or [creative] writing.ā
āI had one of those post-collegiate crises where youāre like, āWho am I?ā And Karla, then my girlfriend, now my wife, on the platform of the G train, was like, āYou like to write, you like to make musicāwhy donāt you think about radio?āā
A KNACK FOR STORYTELLING
Abumrad made his way to WBAI, a New York City community radio station, and became a volunteer. Day one, he was conducting interviews out in the fieldāsomething heād never done. Right from the start, he was hooked.
āIt was so amazing to go out and talk to people, come back and put the audio onto these strips of tape,ā Abumrad said. āThen you cut the tape, you write interstitial pieces between Tape One and Tape Two, then itās like, 3 p.m., you have an audience and youāre on the air. The whole thing was like, āOh my God, this is what I wanna do with my life.āā
He was drawn to the tactile nature of radioācompliments of WBAIās 1970s-era equipmentāand the ease of storytelling. Unlike fiction and poetry, interviewing someone and shaping their words into a story was an antidote to his writerās block.
āI went to school for creative writingāfiction, poetry, which I tried, but I find I would just get writerās block,ā Abumrad said. āSo initially, I got attracted to the writing and storytelling part [of radio] because it felt like a shortcut, but I didnāt really know how to tell a story at that point.ā
Abumradās crash course in journalistic norms happened on the air. He kept what resonated and left the rest, ultimately granting himself permission to shape peopleās words in artful and musical ways.
A SHOW IS BORN
āI got into the business of storytelling through the side door,ā Abumrad said. āI didnāt think it was a thing that I would be doingāat least not true stories, you know?ā
Abumrad worked a slew of random jobs so he could continue volunteering at the station, freelancing on the side, putting his new skill set into practice. His first paid piece, a video project for National Public Radio, opened the door to his next 20 years.
āI sort of wormed my way into WNYC, which is the NPR station,ā Abumrad said. āI started freelancing a little bit. And then, 9/11 happened here in New York, and the station changed its entire strategy.ā
The scheduling changeāfrom mostly classical music with some news every hour, to news all day with a bit of music at nightāresulted in several openings on the AM frequency, and it presented Abumrad with a serendipitous opportunity.
āI just happened to be in the hall when the program director of the station was like, āI need someone to do something at 8 p.m. on Sunday nights.ā A week later, I was hosting what became .ā
Abumrad produced Radiolab, a show he describes as, at its outset, āa science show for poets,ā alone in the basement of his home for the first few years. It effectively made him a writer and composer.
āThere were all these different jobs connected to it, and it kind of became my life,ā Abumrad said. āAnd I actually got to be a composer through that, because I was writing all the music for the show.ā
From a party of one to a bustling newsroom of 30, Radiolabās content shifted as Abumradās interests did, leading to spin-offs like , which breaks down the Supreme Court for everyday people, and , an exploration of the iconography of Dolly Parton.
After 20 years of Radiolab, Abumrad entrusted the keys to his team and embarked upon a mission to tackle his next thingātelling stories that spark change and connection. Thatās how he got to 91ĢĘ²®»¢.
TELLING 21ST CENTURY STORIES
Abumrad joined 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās research faculty in 2022. At the center of his workāmentoring students, advising the chancellorās office, conducting researchāis a belief that a well-told story can bring people together and make life more colorful.
With the chancellorās office, he helps tell stories the university is excited about. , a 2023 video series chronicling 91ĢĘ²®»¢ researchers and their work, was Abumradās brainchild. The seriesā success led 91ĢĘ²®»¢ University Provost C. Cybele Raver to expand it into a podcast.
He mentors students on personal projects, immersion projects and their independent studies, and he is building out a semester-long fellowship exploring the basics of visual storytellingāhow to tell stories that resonate with audiences and garner engagement.
āTheyāll learn the basics of, how do you tell a story so that it connects with somebody? And how do you get attention for your story?ā Abumrad said. āHow do you get somebody to stop what theyāre doingāwhich is increasingly hard these daysāand just connect with the thing youāre doing so that you have some value that can enhance your life.ā
At , Abumrad is working on a pilot research program studying the effects of stories on cancer patients in treatment.
āOne of the things Iām super excited about at 91ĢĘ²®»¢ is working with the medical center to study the effects that stories have on people who are being treated at Ingram for cancer,ā Abumrad said. āDoes the sharing and receiving of stories help throughout that journey? What are the kinds of stories that help? How might we make these spaces where people have to waitāthe cavernous waiting roomāa space where weāre all in a community together?ā
From the VUMC pilot to , his first 91ĢĘ²®»¢-studio-produced series, building community through art is the goal.
āFela Kuti for me wasāI felt like I needed to hear a story to remind myself, and then the audience, that music is powerful,ā Abumrad said. āThat, with just music, you can move people into action. I believe art can save us, and I needed to tell myself that and tell people stories that can make that point.ā
The series, which netted Abumrad his , he describes as having ā91ĢĘ²®»¢ās fingerprints all over it.ā
It was funded, in part, by a gift from the chancellorās office and recorded in in 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās Central Library. Additionally, Abumrad asked fellow 91ĢĘ²®»¢ faculty to lend him a hand. , Cornelius 91ĢĘ²®»¢ Professor of History, is featured in the series and served as Abumradās editorial guideāgut-checking his reporting along the way to make sure everything sounded right.
For Abumrad, the Peabody wināalongside the seriesā clear 91ĢĘ²®»¢ imprintāfelt like a full-circle moment.
āItās just a great validation. In the way that faculty publish, this feels like a publication, a 91ĢĘ²®»¢ publication,ā Abumrad said. āAnd Iām proud of that.ā
