{
  "id": 15213222,
  "title": "Jad Abumrad loves a butterfly knife and a good springy pillow",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/jad-abumrad-loves-a-butterfly-knife-and-a-good-springy-pillow",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-17T14:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Verge",
    "slug": "the-verge",
    "url": "https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1013381/jad-abumrad-radiolab-dolly-parton-fela-kuti-podcast-interview"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Jad Abumrad, the creator and host of Dolly Parton's America and Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, has made a significant impact on the podcasting world. Before his ventures into podcasting, Abumrad was known for creating Radiolab, an experimental NPR show that used creative sound design and original music to tell deeply reported stories. He has since retired from Radiolab but continues to produce for film, theater, and dance, and serves as a distinguished research professor at Vanderbilt University. Abumrad is a man of simple pleasures and collects a large number of audio plug-ins, as well as a butterfly knife which he finds satisfying to use. Among digital tools, he loves the Fantastical calendar app and the Granular synthesis app, Granite. Abumrad appreciates the invention of indoor plumbing and wishes to eliminate all notifications on his smartphone. He is active on Instagram and prefers Bandcamp and Andrew Huang's YouTube channel when online. Abumrad's fondest tech memory is playing Donkey Kong as a child, and he regrets that he hasn't created anything he's particularly proud of. He finds inspiration in Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho and UK dubstep music.",
  "summary": "It's hard to overstate Jad Abumrad's impact on the podcasting world. He created and hosted Dolly Parton's America and Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, two Peabody Award-winning shows that offered unprecedented looks at the lives of two of the most important music icons of the last century. Before that, though, he created Radiolab, an experimental […]",
  "key_points": [
    "Jad Abumrad created and hosted Radiolab.",
    "He collects audio plug-ins and a butterfly knife.",
    "Abumrad wishes to eliminate smartphone notifications."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}