Before It Had a Theme

Before It Had a Theme

Hosted by Rob and Britta · Robert McGinley Myers

4.9from 36 ratings

Books guestsus

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38Podcast AuthorityScore out of 100 · How it is scored
29
Episodes
4
Transcribed
36
Ratings
Monthly
Cadence
2018
First episode

About Before It Had a Theme

A podcast that lovingly deconstructs the history and art of audio storytelling, hosted by former public radio producers Rob McGinley Myers (The Writer's Almanac, Anxious Machine) and Britta Greene (Minnesota Public Radio, The New Yorker Radio Hour).

Publisher
Robert McGinley Myers
Category
society & culture
Language
en
Explicit
No
First episode
10 Oct 2018
Latest episode
8 Oct 2026
Apple PodcastsSpotifyWebsiteRSS feed

Latest episodes

4 of 29 episodes have a transcript.

  1. 8 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

    Nikole Hannah-Jones: What the Evidence Shows

  2. 27 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

    An Audio Mural with Alex Kotlowitz

  3. 30 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

    Ancient High School Regrets

Inside a recent episode

Nikole Hannah-Jones: What the Evidence Shows

Published 8 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Old fashioned, Brown versus Board of Education, 1954 technology, little kids on buses. That's right. Yeah. There's something about that that's kind of striking, framing it as a technology. Yeah. Like... We have to go back in time to solve this problem. It's the old thing, not the new thing that's going to solve it. An important point that she makes that is the most important thing to understand about segregated schools is that it's not that white children... Are magical. And if a black child is sitting next to a white child, they will learn better. Yes. The issue is concentrating poverty into a single school makes that school almost unrunnable. […]

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Who has been a guest on Before It Had a Theme

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

  • Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Alex Kotlowitz
  • Julia Barton
  • Liza Yeager
  • Jackson Roach

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
33 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 38 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality
56
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51

Contact Before It Had a Theme

Guest appearances
Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Before It Had a Theme

Who hosts Before It Had a Theme?

Rob and Britta host the show. Published by Robert McGinley Myers.

How often do new episodes come out?

The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.

Does Before It Had a Theme take guests?

Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.

Where can I read transcripts?

4 of 29 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.

Host of Before It Had a Theme?

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