An Unsparing Investigation of the Canadian Indian Residential School System

Matt here. Thanks for being part of the Campside community. Today we are revisiting our Origin Stories conversation with Connie Walker, a veteran Cree journalist, and the first podcaster to win both the Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody Award in the same year.Connie is one of the most ethical journalists I know – she thinks deeply about the sensitivities of both her subjects and her listeners. It’s a surprisingly uncommon skill, and one I was eager to better understand.She talks about the backstory of “Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s,” a deeply-personal investigation of the Canadian Indian residential school system, which she reported while at Gimlet.To Connie, all great audio documentaries should hinge on “a question that you’re trying to answer. It doesn’t have to be the question that you end up asking the whole way through,” she says. “But initially, you have to start with that.”This is an Origin Stories interview, where we get very smart writers, reporters and TV & movie people to explain how their most beloved works were created.The people I’ve spoken with have their own systems, habits, anxieties, tricks, and (occasionally) deeply strange methods for getting from a first glimmer of… something, to a masterpiece.If you’ve listened to the show before, thank you. And if you’re new to it, there’s plenty to catch up on.Origin Stories is a Campside Media podcast. Email us with questions or comments: [email protected] hope to see you inside the tent again soon. Subscribe now for updates on all of Campside’s hit shows. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit join.campsidemedia.com