“Into The Depths” with Tara Roberts

Join National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts on a historic journey as she documents some of the thousand slave ships that wrecked in the Atlantic Ocean during the transatlantic slave trade and follows a group of Black divers who are dedicated to finding and helping document the wrecks. A new six-part podcast series, Into the Depths, and National Geographic Magazine explore the complex history of the global slave trade and the stories of the estimated 12.5-million Africans forced to make the Middle Passage.

“INTO THE DEPTHS is a profound and personal exploration of identity and history as told through the lens of Black scientists and storytellers eager to deepen our understanding of American history,” says Davar Ardalan, executive producer of Audio for National Geographic.

The podcast, which will drop from Jan. 27 to March 3, features over 40 voices, including underwater divers and archaeologists – descendants of those brought over on the ships, historians, and a variety of experts whom Roberts works with to uncover these stories. Ken Stewart, diver, and co-founder of Diving With a Purpose is featured in the second episode as Roberts dives into the story of the Spanish pirate ship, the Guerrero, which wrecked off the coast of Florida in 1827. Meanwhile, the town of Africatown, Alabama, made up of the direct descendants of Africans brought to America on the slave ship Clotilda, makes an appearance in episode six. The journey brings Roberts to a deeply painful and personal crossroads concerning her identity as a Black American as she searches for a sense of belonging. You can listen on Apple Podcasts and wherever podcasts are found.

“As I got to know the divers, the ships they had found, the stories of those who had been captured, I realized this was a way to come to grips with those 400 years, with this traumatic history [of much of the Black population in the United States],” Roberts explains in the opening of the first episode. “Through these ships, we could bring lost stories up from the depths and back into collective memory.”

The podcast series was produced and directed by Francesca Panetta with National Geographic’s Carla Wills as executive editor and producers Mike Olcott and Bianca Martin.

“As a Black journalist, it’s been uplifting to edit and produce this podcast together with Black women storytellers who have brought tremendous insights and creativity to this groundbreaking series, including Tara as well as National Geographic Explorer and poet Alyea Pierce, sound designer Alexis Adimora, and producer Bianca Martin,” Wills says.

National Geographic is also encouraging listeners to listen with their crews and host their own COVID-19-safe listening parties by offering a downloadable listening party toolkit, available at natgeo.com/intothedepths. The toolkit will include an episode guide, discussion guide, social sharing graphic, and more, as well as helpful information regarding how to participate in the conversation online using #intothedepths.

In addition to the podcast series, Roberts will be featured on the cover of the March issue of National Geographic magazine, which will be published online at natgeo.com/intothedepths on Feb. 7. The feature will profile Roberts’ journey as she travels with the divers to investigate the lost stories of the slave trade – both to expand the historical record and to honor the 1.8 million unsung souls who perished during the middle passage.

National Geographic will also premiere a documentary special, CLOTILDA: LAST AMERICAN SLAVE SHIP, about the most intact slave shipwreck found to date and the only one for which we know the full story of the voyage, the passengers and their descendants.  In July 1860, on a bet, the schooner Clotilda carried 110 kidnapped Africans to slavery in Alabama. The traffickers tried to hide their crime by burning and sinking the ship, but now, for the first time since Clotilda arrived in America, maritime archaeologists enter the wreck.  In a dangerous dive, they explore the actual cargo hold and find physical evidence of the crime the slave traders tried so hard to hide. Descendants of the passengers share how their ancestors turned a cruel tragedy into an uplifting story of courage and resilience.

The special features experts include the following:

CLOTILDA: LAST AMERICAN SLAVE SHIP is produced by National Geographic Studios, with producer/director Lisa Feit, senior associate producer Alex Brady, senior lead editor Joe Bridgers, editor Liv Gwynn, and executive producer Chad Cohen. Michael Cooke is the director of photography. For National Geographic, Courteney Monroe is president, of Content.