Stories that stick with you.
BACK POCKET STUDIOS can help any brand, publisher, or aspiring host with a microphone and a good idea reach their desired audience and produce a sustainable podcast.
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The 5th season of History This Week is currently in premiere and available on all platforms.
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What We Do
Development
Take your podcast idea seriously. We'll craft your show's editorial voice through talent casting, assembling pitch materials, and finding an episode format that makes sense for you.
Together, we can draft a budget and build a team to make your podcast reflect your financial and creative goals.
Production
Create your show with us. In addition to studio and remote recording services, we provide research, booking, writing, story editing, and sound design for your project. We have access to state-of-the-art recording facilities with required equipment to capture video podcasts.
Strategy
Make your podcast sustainable. We identify and facilitate creative partnerships to help your podcast reach its target audience and advertising goals, and, when applicable, position your IP for multimedia adaptation. We use data to identify the most effective supplemental content including video, bonus episodes, subscription models, and translated versions for international markets.
What We've Done
Road to Rickwood (NPR/MLB)
Ben Dickstein, senior producer
Who Killed the Video Star? (Audacy)
David Weissbourd, producer
Ghostwriter (Audacy)
David Weissbourd, creative executive
...and plenty more!
Who We Are
Ben Dickstein
Head of Production /
Executive Producer
Ben is a showrunner and producer specializing in narrative non-fiction audio. Previously, he oversaw several productions as leader of the podcast team at the History Channel. He has also produced projects for NPR and ESPN.
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When he's not staring at a computer, you can find Ben wandering Central Park, in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, or practicing the saxophone at hours that are respectful to his neighbors.
David Weissbourd
Head of Development /
Executive Producer
David is a producer and development executive with experience working across a range of formats and mediums. He’s worked at Good Morning America, ICM Partners, the History Channel, and led efforts to adapt IP into Film and TV projects at Cadence13. Prior to working in entertainment, David worked at various non-profit orgs.
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When he's not staring at a computer, you can find David strolling through Tompkins Square Park, pleading with a bartender to put on the Celtics, or on the hunt for a pick up basketball game.
Contributors
Sally Helm
Host / Story Editor
Sally Helm is the founding host of HISTORY This Week. She has been a frequent contributor to NPR's Planet Money, and her work has also aired on Throughline and The Sporkful. Sally also writes fiction -- she received her MFA from Brooklyn College, where she won the Himan Brown Award and the Lainoff Prize. She is a graduate of Yale University and of the Transom Story Workshop. Her first gig in radio was as a DJ for KCAW Raven Radio in Sitka, Alaska.
Alana Casanova-Burgess
Host / Story Editor
Alana Casanova-Burgess is the host of the podcast La Brega, a longform narrative series produced in both English and Spanish. She was formerly a reporter and producer for the Brian Lehrer Show and On the Media from WNYC, as well as the duPont award-winning series Tulsa Burning. Her work has been featured on Planet Money, 99 Percent Invisible, Radio Ambulante, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Snap Judgement, The New York Times, The Guardian, and elsewhere.
Kathryn Isaac
Writer / Producer
Kathryn Isaac is a nonfiction producer working across television, film, and audio. Previously, she spent a decade working as a development executive, most recently as Head of Development at The Documentary Group. Kathryn is one of the creators and producers of Svetlana! Svetlana! (iHeart), named a Best Podcast of 2023 by Vulture, and is currently producing a genre-bending narrative nonfiction podcast about a Beverly Hill heiress and a search for the long-lost Romanov crown jewels.