Exploring an Icon’s Humanity: Producer Shima Oliaee on Making Dolly Parton’s America

Dolly Parton’s America producer Shima Oliaee joins host Skye Pillsbury to reveal what it was like to create a show about iconic singer/songwriter/actress/businesswoman Dolly Parton. The pair discuss: The moment Shima and Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad realized they had a series on their hands; How Jad tried to keep the idea “under wraps”; How much Dolly understood about what she was getting into; How Shima and Jad got beyond the iconic persona and discovered something deeper; Whether Dolly has heard the series yet. Additional reading:  Sarah Smarsh’s book She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs Aisha Harris’s piece for Slate on Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, Springtime for the Confederacy; A New York Times article about Dr. Lynn Sacco’s “Dolly Parton’s America” class. Get in touch: Host Skye Pillsbury on Twitter @SkyePillsbury                          Guest Shima Oliaee on Twitter @ShimaOliaee  Inside Podcasting producer Evo Terra on Twitter @EvoTerra Inside Podcasting is produced and hosted by Skye Pillsbury. Evo Terra of Simpler Media Productions is Skye’s co-producer for season two. Charles Quilley is Skye’s sound engineer and Rachel Loden is our researcher. Thanks to Jason Calacanis for greenlighting this project, to Skye’s family for their unwavering support, and to all of YOU, the fabulous people who listen to this show. Please tell a friend about this podcast, post about it on social media, or consider subscribing to Inside Podcasting, a free newsletter about everything podcasting at inside.com/podcasting.