Dateline correspondents Keith Morrison, Josh Mankiewicz, senior executive producer David Corvo and executive producer Liz Cole made their debut at SXSW over the weekend and discuss their popular podcast franchise.
Netflix Gracie & Frankie actress June Diane Raphael, a Dateline fan, moderated the panel.
Corvo commented on the Dateline premium Apple subscription, saying, “We have a really loyal Dateline community. We used to use the phrase with the show, don’t watch alone… that came from our viewers in our social media community. And we were just trying to think of ways that we could recognize the special nature of that community and their commitment that they have.”
Morrison and Mankiewicz discussed the difficulty of interviewing victims’ families.
“I get asked a lot whether it’s hard to sit across from a murderer, which we do a fair amount,” said Mankiewicz. “That’s not hard compared to talking to those families. That’s the hard part.”
Credit: Rebecca Brenneman
Morrison added, “It’s also the rewarding part. I mean, it’s phenomenal to be allowed in to someone’s life to that degree. And it requires therefore, that you have to be you have to be careful. You have to be gentle with that person because they’ve trusted you to tell their story.”
Morrison also comment on his technical process for recording podcasts.
“I ordered from Amazon, this kind of room divider thing made of soft material and I put it around this little table that I use as a desk,” he said. “And then I got one of those blankets that winds up being used for nothing in particular in the house, it’s lying somewhere. And so I found it, and I put it over the top like a tent. And then there’s a little light underneath that becomes, and that’s my new office.”
And Cole broke news to the audience that the show will debut a special, one-off episode this coming Wednesday, called Talking Dateline. It will feature a behind the scenes look at the previous week’s episode through a conversation with Morrison and Mankiewicz.
“In this particular episode, Josh interviews Keith about a story that just aired, a story that aired Friday night actually,” said Cole. “So if you enjoy this conversation, you get to hear Keith and Josh talk about their reporting, you’ll enjoy that too.”
Listeners have downloaded Dateline true crime podcasts nearly one billion times since the first one appeared in 2019.