Into the Depths
Black scuba divers across the world are searching for buried shipwrecks from the transatlantic slave trade, when millions of enslaved Africans were trafficked to the Americas during the 15th to the 19th centuries. A new six-part podcast series, Into the Depths, follows National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts as she sets off on the journey of a lifetime to meet the divers, marine archaeologists, descendants of those brought over on ships, and historians investigating the lost stories of the slave trade. She’s inspired to share their accounts both to expand the historical record and to honor the estimated 1.8 million unsung souls who perished during the Middle Passage. Along the way, Tara meets up with her family and friends, spiritual advisers, and even a poet to help tell those ancestral stories, and delves into her own roots—challenging her assumptions about home and belonging.
Our Editor's Take
Tara Roberts is a notable official National Geographic Explorer. In Into the Depths, she guides listeners on a captivating journey. This six-part series developed from her engaging National Geographic cover story. She talks about the almost 2 million Africans who reportedly died in shipwrecks during the slave trade. Descendents of enslaved people are now working to tell their stories. Roberts documents these efforts.
On top of being an Explorer, Roberts is an accomplished writer and podcaster. Her experience includes roles as an editor, children's book editor, and magazine founder. She was a fellow at the MIT Open Documentary Lab and director of communications at Ashoka. The podcast is a result of her diverse career and skills.
Roberts put her everyday life on hold to start Into the Depths. She quit her job to focus on this project. Her goal was to reshape how people view the history of Africans in the Americas. The six-episode series reflects this admirable goal.
Each Into the Depths episode lasts 30 to 45 minutes. It is exciting, emotional, and informative as Tara Roberts explores historical events. Influential guests add color to the podcast. These include Ken Stewart from Diving with a Purpose. This is a nonprofit dedicated to finding shipwrecks. Poet Alyea Pierce and journalist María Suárez Toro also appear.
One episode details Stewart's 20-year attempt to find the Guerrero. This was a Spanish pirate ship that sank near Florida in 1827. Enslaved Africans died in the wreck.
There are six episodes to the podcast. Roberts released a special episode in 2022 in honor of Juneteenth. This episode revisits the last installment of the podcast.
Into the Depths gives an insightful view of this sensitive part of history. It is a moving podcast. It shares the history of Africans in the Americas, as told by their descendants. It promotes an atmosphere as profound as the seas harboring these historical wrecks.
Episodes