Hysterical named 2024 Apple Podcasts Show of the Year.

Every year, Apple Podcasts recognizes podcasts that challenge, inspire, and delight listeners around the world. In 2024, one show stood out for pushing the medium forward.

Hysterical is a seven-part series that investigates a mysterious illness that spread among high school girls in LeRoy, New York, in 2011. In his search for answers, creator Dan Taberski examines instances of mass hysteria throughout history and explores what the social illness outbreaks have to say about the human mind and the complexities of our society.

We sat down with Dan to talk about mass hysteria, the art of serial storytelling, and how to own your creative voice.

Apple Podcasts: What is it about the events in LeRoy that drew you to this particular story?

Dan: I was drawn to the story because I had been reading about what was going on with Havana syndrome, which is an illness that was affecting diplomats and CIA officers — over a thousand of them around the world. This mystery illness that people didn’t understand.

I just thought it was really interesting that the media was pontificating about it, and they were interviewing all these people who were suffering from it, but everybody was really afraid to say, “What if it’s a hysterical illness? What if it’s all in your head?”

People who had the illness weren’t willing to talk about it on that level; the journalists were uncomfortable asking about it, and I just thought it was very interesting because it seemed like psychogenic illness was a big possibility of what was happening here.

I thought that disconnect was really interesting. And then I went back and found the story that had happened in LeRoy in 2011 and 2012. I thought it would be interesting to pair those two stories.

AP: How do you know that you have an idea for a multipart series versus a single-episode story?

Dan: It takes a while to do the research and get properly confused. When I’m reading, researching, or talking to people and trying to decide if I want to do a project — the more time I spend with it, the more questions I need to have.

If the questions dry up pretty quickly, it’s not worth it. But the more you spend time with it, the more unsure you are, the more questions you have, the more doors it opens, the more things there are to wrestle with — that’s when I get really into it.

When I’m properly confused, I have questions and I’m excited to sit down with as many people as possible to get answers. Then I feel like I’m ready to go.

AP: How do you plot a serialized story? How do you think about the storytelling and plotting over multiple episodes?

Dan: Every show, every series is totally different than the one before. And so you are reinventing it every time. And I think that’s what makes it interesting.

I work with a team of collaborators who have been pretty consistent over the years, and with whom I made Hysterical. That sort of creative relationship really builds over the course of years. It’s really helpful to have people who are interrogating it with you as you’re going along. It’s part of the fun.

In terms of structuring it, one basic idea is that each episode reveals something new about the story, which allows you to go back and ask the same questions with a different perspective. You’re parsing out information in a certain way because I want them to consider it in a certain order. It makes you see the story in a different way, and that’s sort of the fun of it.

AP: You worked in TV and film before coming to podcasting. What do you think podcasting offers in terms of storytelling that those other mediums may not?

Dan: In podcasting, you have the ability to engage with the story and wrestle with it, to show that process of trying to understand it better, and work with the people who are part of the story. You can’t really do that anywhere else but in podcasting.

In narrative podcasting, the process of figuring it out is part of the conversations, part of what we cut together, and part of the whole thing. I like how deliberative it is, as opposed to just telling a story. With storytelling, it’s already there and you’re just presenting. That’s not what this is.

You’re pulling out the story from all the people you’re talking to and all the things that are happening. You’re not just telling it, and the listener can actually see that process. I just don’t know of a format where you can do that besides podcasting.

AP: What advice do you have for somebody who’s trying to produce a limited-run series?

Dan: A lot of people walk around trying to get their projects made, and they’re pitching it as an idea that they’re asking people to help pay for. But I don’t think that’s what sells. I think what sells is when you walk into a room and people can feel like, “Oh, this guy’s gonna make this no matter what. This guy’s gonna make this if he has to do it on his phone.”

There needs to be this forward motion that “it’s happening,” and people need to feel that they can get on board and help you. As the host, writer, and producer, it’s your voice; you need to be the one pushing it forward. So, asking people to love your idea always feels a little wrong to me. It just needs to be something that you are really compelled to make.

AP: Do you have any tips for podcasters on how they can channel their own voice when writing for the ear?

Dan: I think you need to be really honest about what your voice is. If somebody thinks what I’m working on is funny, it’s just because that’s the way I approach conversations with people.

I’m always making dumb jokes, and I’m always laughing at the wrong time. A lot of people are compelled to start the other way around. They think, “OK, this is gonna be a funny podcast, so I have to be funny.” But you should do the thing that comes from you. So if that’s being super serious, then be super serious.

And with podcasts, there’s so much leeway to say weird things, strange things, funny things, serious things, non sequiturs, and it really depends on you bringing that to it. And so that’s my advice — focus on what your voice actually is, not what you want to be. And that part takes a while to get over. It’s not about sounding good, it’s about expressing something.

I think it’s really being honest about what your voice is and leaning into that. Not what you want your voice to be, not what you think people want to hear.

AP: OK final question. I know that you’re a big quilter: Do you listen to podcasts while you’re quilting?

Dan: I don’t. When I’m quilting, I empty my mind and then you’re not focusing on podcasting, and you have all the good ideas for podcasts.

So it’s a great pairing. If I’m stuck writing, I’ll start to quilt, and then I’ll have an idea. It’s a great thing to pair with writing.