“SOMEBODY” picked up a National Magazine Award for podcasting

by Screenmancer Staff

UPDATE: ”Somebody,” the seven-part podcast series produced by The Intercept, Chicago-based journalism nonprofit Invisible Institute, and the award-winning Topic Studios, has won a National Magazine (Ellie) Award in the Podcasting category. In breaking news, “Somebody” is also a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. 

This award-winning series documents Chicago mother Shapearl Well’s quest to find out what happened to her son, Courtney Copeland, a 22-year-old man who wound up with a bullet in his back outside a Chicago Police station in 2016 and died. 

The Ellie award follows a series of other accolades, including wins from the distinguished Scripps Howard (Excellence in Podcast Coverage), IDA (Independent Documentary Association) (Best Audio Documentary), Adweek (Podcast Host of the Year), Third Coast International (Best Serialized Story), and Headliner (Best Criminal Justice / Crime podcast).  

After hearing about the National Magazine win, Shapearl Wells said: “I am grateful that so many people took the time to listen to Courtney’s story and understand the everyday racial bias we face as Black people in America. Losing Courtney has changed my life forever, and I walk this path with a lot of pain. But turning that pain into a purpose has made this walk easier to bear.”

Disrupting the genre of investigative journalism podcasts, “Somebody” is narrated by Wells, who guides listeners to explore questions of police accountability and public trust. Wells is the Vice President of the Courtney Copeland Memorial Foundation, which works to reduce violence, strengthen education and build rapport between the community and police.

In the series, Wells is joined by Chicago journalist Alison Flowers, who leads investigations at the Invisible Institute on the South Side of Chicago, and Bill Healy, an independent radio producer. Over three years, the “Somebody” team sought answers in Copeland’s death, uncovering new evidence and calling the police to account along the way for their actions.

To learn more about the making of “Somebody,” visit somebodypodcast.com

Invisible Institute:

Invisible Institute is a nonprofit journalism production company on the South Side of Chicago. Its mission is to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable. Among the tactics the Invisible Institute employs are investigative reporting, multimedia storytelling, human rights documentation, the curation of public information, and the orchestration of difficult public conversations. The organization’s work coheres around a central principle: we as citizens have co-responsibility with the government for maintaining respect for human rights and, when abuses occur, for demanding redress.

The Intercept:

The Intercept is an award-winning nonprofit news organization dedicated to holding the powerful accountable through fearless, adversarial journalism. Its in-depth investigations and unflinching analysis focus on surveillance, war, corruption, the environment, technology, criminal justice, the media and more. 

In 2021, The Intercept has won a number of important journalism accolades including a Headliner Award (Best in Show) and the Overseas Press Club’s Hal Boyle Award, for the feature “The CIA’s Afghan Death Squads;” an Izzy Award for our coverage of President Trump’s federal penalty program; and a Mirror Award nomination for our piece on how the Trump Administration suppressed photography of the pandemic. Our newsroom also published a series of groundbreaking projects including a multipart examination of President Joe Biden’s decadeslong record on foreign and military issues, titled “Empire Politician.”

Topic Studios:

Topic Studios, the award-winning entertainment studio from First Look Media, develops, finances and produces provocative and entertaining content for all platforms including theatrical, streaming, television and podcasts. Films from Topic Studios include Kevin Macdonald’s legal thriller The Mauritanian, (with STX Films); Euros Lyn’s Dream Horse, (with Bleecker Street); and Pablo Larraìn’s upcoming Spencer (with Neon). Topic Studios’ television protects include Love Fraud, and the Emmy Award® winning 16 Shots, both on Showtime; and the upcoming surfing documentary series, 100 Foot Wave on HBO/HBO Max. Recent podcasts from Topic Studios include: Somebody (iHeartRadio), with The Intercept & Invisible Institute; Impostors: The Spy, A Spotify Original from Parcast; the Audible Original The Messenger, now on Audible Plus; Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu (with WarnerMedia Podcast Network); Anthem (with Luminary) from John Cameron Mitchell, featuring Glenn Close, Cynthia Erivo and Patti LuPone; and Missing Richard Simmons; the Peabody®-nominated Headlong: Running from COPS and Headlong: Surviving Y2K, created and hosted by Dan Taberski.

RECAP:

In the powerful 7-part audio series, Chicago mother Shapearl Wells probes her son Courtney Copeland’s 2016 homicide and joins forces with a team of journalists to confront the Chicago Police and challenge the city’s long-standing racial disparities.

Listen here.

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