A story-driven podcast about the lives of real Montanans after they die, co-hosted by old friends and colleagues Jad Abumrad (founder of Radiolab and creator of Dolly Parton’s America and 2025’s Fela Kuti: Fear No Man) and University of Montana professor and journalist Jule Banville (An Absurd Result). This 12-episode production of the Montana Media Lab at the UM School of Journalism started with a class of students learning about the long tradition of obituary writing and ended with them and other professionals creating a new form that explores universal truths, legacies and reckoning with the memories of those we love. The podcast will launch in April. Hear the stories wherever you get your podcasts and on Montana Public Radio.
Jule Banville, Editor and Co-host
Jule Banville is a professor of journalism at the University of Montana, where she teaches writing, reporting and audio courses. For more than a decade, she asked her students to report obituaries and write beautiful features about someone’s life. Then Jad Abumrad came along and that became The Obit Project podcast. In previous lives, she and Jad worked as audio producers at WNYC in New York.
Jule reported, wrote and hosted An Absurd Result, a seven-part narrative podcast about prosecuting the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl. She also produced and hosted Last Best Stories, a podcast featuring student and professional narratives set in Montana. She’s worked in daily newspapers that include the Erie Times-News in Pennsylvania; alternative newsweeklies that include the Washington City Paper in D.C.; and in public radio. She’s always read and loved obits and the craft of telling someone else’s story.
Jad Abumrad, Editor and Co-host
Jad Abumrad is a composer, artist and journalist and the creator of Radiolab, Dolly Parton’s America, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man and many other podcasts, which collectively have been downloaded over a billion times. He’s been called a “master of the radio craft” for his unique ability to combine cutting edge sound-design, cinematic storytelling and a personal approach to explaining complex topics, from the stochasticity of tumor cells to the mathematics of morality.
Jad studied creative writing and music composition at Oberlin College in Ohio. He composed much of the music for Radiolab and has composed music for film, theater and dance. Jad has received three Peabody Awards, the highest honor in broadcasting and two DuPont Awards. And in 2011, he received the prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship.
He’s currently a Distinguished Professor of Research at Vanderbilt University.
Mary Auld, Editor and Showrunner
Mary Auld is an audio producer and the director of the Montana Media Lab. In that role, she coordinates teen audio journalism workshops in the state’s rural and Indigenous communities.
She’s reported stories for public radio stations in Montana and Alaska, and produced narrative podcasts about wildlife and house pets. She lives in Hamilton, Montana, with her cats and flock of chickens.
Erica Huang, Original Music and Mixing
Erica Huang is a sound designer, mix engineer, and composer. She’s contributed to shows for The Atlantic, Vox, WNYC, Prologue Projects, Translash Media, Pushkin, Campside Media, PRX, Constellations Sounds, and LWC Studios, where she sound designed the Peabody-nominated show 70 Million. Erica mixes and makes music out of Good Studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn, where she also runs occasional workshops and listening events. Outside of work, she enjoys ham radio and crocheting.