Audible Original “Pulse: The Untold Story” Wins a Peabody Award
During today’s announcement of the 85th Annual Peabody Awards, the Audible Original podcast series Pulse: The Untold Story was named best Podcast/Radio in the Documentary category. From investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson and Western Sound, Pulse: The Untold Story investigates the Pulse nightclub shooting and raises startling questions about the FBI’s culpability. The series will be recognized at the 85th Annual Peabody Awards celebration on Sunday, June 1, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. The win marks Audible’s first Peabody Award for its growing category of journalism-based podcasts.
“We’re so proud to see Pulse: The Untold Story honored with a prestigious Peabody Award,” said Rachel Ghiazza, Chief Content Officer at Audible. “It’s a powerful reminder of what storytelling can do — shine a light, spark dialogue, and make an impact. Trevor Aaronson’s reporting on this tragic event is incredibly thoughtful and fearless, and we’re grateful to bring it into the world as an Audible Original. This recognition means a lot, and it fuels our commitment to supporting stories that really matter to listeners.”
In this Audible production, host Aaronson challenges the established narrative surrounding the Pulse nightclub shooting, revealing that it was not a premeditated anti LGBTQIA+ hate crime, but rather an opportunistic act by shooter Omar Mateen—a shocking revelation that has received little coverage.
In a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, Mateen murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community in US history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. But there’s a story you haven’t heard. The FBI had a secret history with the shooter and his father. A false narrative emerged in the media, suggesting that the attacker was a secretly gay Islamist extremist who had chosen to target Pulse and planned the attack for weeks – a story the FBI allowed to take root without correction. Through a relentless and thorough investigation, Aaronson uncovers the volatile relationship between the shooter and his father and how their troubled interactions with the FBI lead to a disturbing final question: Could the FBI have prevented the massacre?
Pulse: The Untold Story joins Aaronson’s roster of Audible Originals including American ISIS, Hold Fast, and Into the Madness. He is also host of the podcast series Alphabet Boys, author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism, and a contributing writer for The Intercept. His TED Talk about the FBI’s counterterrorism program has been viewed more than one million times and translated into more than two dozen languages.
Aaronson’s Peabody-winning podcast is part of a growing slate of reporting podcasts from Audible including Ronan Farrow’s Not a Very Good Murderer, Leon Neyfakh and Prologue Projects’ Think Twice: Michael Jackson and the Backfired series, Jon Ronson’s The Debutante, and more. Audible develops Originals with other top industry creatives such as President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground, Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street, Daniel Dae Kim’s 3AD Productions, Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video Enterprises, and James Patterson Entertainment.
Pulse: The Untold Story first debuted on Audible on July 11, 2024. All eight parts are available here.
