\u201cWho is dead in the White House?\u201d I demanded from one of the soldiers.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0April 15, 1865. President Lincoln is dead, and the country is in turmoil.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is the very moment in which the audio drama <\/span>1865<\/span><\/i> begins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently nominated for a People’s Choice podcast award in the category of Storyteller Drama, <\/span>\u201c1865 <\/span>tells the story of reconstruction in America,\u201d<\/span><\/i> said Stephen Walters, co-creator, head writer, co-executive producer, and voice of Robert Lincoln of <\/span>1865. <\/span><\/i>\u201c<\/span>It starts in the moment of Lincoln\u2019s assassination and follows one of America’s forgotten heroes, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and his fight against Lincoln\u2019s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson. This battle between Stanton, who is a lifelong abolitionist, and Johnson, who is a confirmed bigot, culminates with the first impeachment proceeding in the history of the United States and sort of precipitates the rise of the KKK, the end of reconstruction, and the beginning of the Jim Crow era<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It is also the culmination of Walter\u2019s 20-year obsession with the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era.<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cIt started back when I was a theater major at Baylor University and was assigned John Wilkes Booth as the subject for a research paper. I <\/span><\/i>hate<\/span> research papers!\u201d <\/span><\/i>Walters said<\/span>. \u201cBut I was teamed up with Eric, who is also the co-creator of the podcast, and we ended up working together in a theater history class, too. We started thinking maybe we should write a play instead of a research paper. So, we went to our professor and asked permission. For some baffling reason, he said <\/span><\/i>\u2018Yes.\u2019<\/span> So, Eric and I set out to write it, and then that play became a series of plays, which became a TV pitch, which ultimately became <\/span><\/i>1865<\/span>, the audio drama<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how did they eventually land in the world of audio drama instead of being a play or television show?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cW<\/span>e realized that our pitch just wasn\u2019t going to get it done,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Walters said.<\/span> \u201cThe way you make a TV series is by pitching it\u2014you describe what it\u2019s going to be, perhaps write a pilot that goes along with it, etc. Once I realized that our pitch wasn’t going to work\u2014that what was needed was a proof of concept\u2014I knew I needed a different vehicle.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a story of characters\u2026 something that needs to live and breathe and have voice and life to it. So I knew it wasn\u2019t supposed to be a novel. I started to notice that there were podcasts like <\/span><\/i>Homecoming<\/span> and <\/span><\/i>Dirty John<\/span> that started as an audio drama before becoming a vehicle for television. And so I felt like the podcast medium was a great place for a story like this.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAn audio drama is a lot more manageable from a budget perspective, too. If we write a big, epic, sweeping battlefield scene, it’s not like it will be cost-prohibitive as an audio drama. So, it really felt like something that was as big, epic, and sweeping as <\/span><\/i>1865<\/span> was perfect for the podcast medium. There are also no limitations around location or size of cast. It was a really good vehicle for what I was trying to do as a proof of concept for TV. My intention is still to make <\/span><\/i>1865<\/span> into a television series, though.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

With Walker\u2019s start as a storyteller through theater, this ultimate vision makes perfect sense.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201c<\/span>I studied acting and playwriting. I also had a minor in communications, radio, TV, and film, but I’ve always been a storyteller. I’ve written stories since I was a little kid. I used to lock myself in my room and write and write and write until my fingers were bleeding. And I still do that today, although my fingers don\u2019t bleed now. Maybe that\u2019s just because they’re a little bit older and more calloused.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been drawn to narrative, because I think at their heart, there is change. That’s what we love about stories\u2014we love to see change in action, because change is so difficult to come by in our own lives. It’s very satisfying to see a story of narrative change play out for us, whether it’s in a TV show, film, novel, or a podcast. I’ve always been drawn to stories and exploring what causes people to change<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for <\/span>1865<\/span><\/i> is more seasons, starting with Season 2, which will extend the story from Edwin Stanton’s chapter to the second chapter of the story\u2014the rise of general Ulysses S. Grant and the war that he wages against the KKK after winning the election of 1868.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

February 2021 Issue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWho is dead in the White House?\u201d I demanded from one of the soldiers. \u201cThe president,\u201d he said. \u00a0April 15, 1865. President Lincoln is dead, and the country is in turmoil. That is the very moment in which the audio drama 1865 begins.\u00a0 Recently nominated for a People’s Choice podcast award in the category of Storyteller Drama, \u201c1865 tells the story of reconstruction in America,\u201d said Stephen Walters, co-creator, head writer, co-executive producer, and voice of Robert Lincoln of 1865. \u201cIt starts in the moment of Lincoln\u2019s assassination and follows one of America’s forgotten heroes, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":12130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2719,2720,187,2723,2722,2721,2718,2717,2189,1068],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n