Creator and co-host of ‘Radiolab’ to speak at UM April 13

The creator and cohost of the Peabody award-winning podcast "Radiolab" is slated to speak at the University of Montana on Monday in a free event as part of the President’s Lecture Series.

Composer and journalist Jad Abumrad also created popular podcasts “Dolly Parton’s America” and “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man,” among others, which have been listened to across the globe.

A UM press release described Abumrad as a “master of the radio craft” in a UM press release on Tuesday for his “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.”

Abumrad has received three Peabodys altogether, two Dupont awards and received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2011, which is also known as the “Genius Grant.”

He recently collaborated with UM Journalism Professor Jule Banville and her students on an audio series about Montanans' lives after they’ve died called “The Obit Project,” with subjects ranging from a “hard-partying bachelor who once got Christine McVie to sign his joint” to a circus elephant.

The 12-episode series premiered earlier this month and the first episode is available online, with versions of some stories set to air on Montana Public Radio.

The 2026 Dean Stone Lecture and UM’s Democracy Summit Keynote Lecture featuring Abumrad is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.. on Monday, April 13 in the University Center Ballroom.