Producers Institute I: Keynote & Questions with Ramtin Arablouei

Since launching in 2019 Throughline has emerged as one of the most popular history podcasts in the United States. The show reached number one on the Apple Podcast Charts and has been lauded in outlets like Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Guardian, GQ, Time Magazine, and many others. After a successful first year, NPR announced that Throughline would also become a radio show launching in early 2021.

Ramtin got his start at NPR with no journalism experience in 2015 with a three-week contract to produce a pilot for How I Built This with Guy Raz. Within a few years, he went on to produce, report, mix, and write music for such top-rated podcasts as TED Radio Hour, Hidden Brain, Embedded, Invisibilia, The Indicator, Code Switch, Radio Ambulante, and the Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal. Ramtin has written theme songs for five of NPR’s most downloaded podcasts.

A trained audio engineer, Arablouei spent most of his early twenties in recording studios. He contributed sound design and music for films and commercials, including the IMAX trailer for 300: Rise of an Empire. He’s written music for many award-winning podcasts including Believed (Peabody Award)  “Los Cassettes del Exilio” (Radio Ambulante) and the “All Work. No Pay” episode of Reveal, which won the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award for investigative reporting.

Born in Iran, Arablouei emigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child. He graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and history.