Showrunner and Star of Live from Mount Olympus: Pandora discuss Greek mythology and recording sessions

Podcasts are all the rage and this is one you can listen to this one with the whole family. All episodes of Live from Mount Olympus: Pandora from the Onassis Foundation are available to listen to now!

This iteration of Live from Mount Olympus concerns the Greek god Zeus as he commands Hephaestus to sculpt a beautiful woman out of clay and orders each god to grant her a gift. In comes, Pandora, whose name means “all the gifts”. In this podcast, we hear when she is brought to Earth and Pandora gets to tell listeners what happened in her own words. If you already know this story, you're in for a treat as there are a few more surprises in store.

The Live from Mount Olympus: Pandora cast includes André De Shields as Hermes, Nedra Marie Taylor as Pandora, Xavier Pacheco as Epimetheus, Ato Blankson-Wood as Prometheus, Gregg Mozgala as Hephaestus, Jill Frutkin as Aphrodite, Ian Lassiter as Zeus, Caroline Hopkins as Chloe, and Natalie Hopkins as Daphne, Libby King as Athena, Kimberly Marable as Phyllis, Maya Sharpe as Acantha, Eirene Tuakora as Sofia, Monée Cheri Hunter as Lyra, Adrienne Hopkins as Eleni.

The creative team includes Julie Burstein, the Peabody Award-winning showrunner directed by Tony Award-winner Rachel Chavkin and Zhailon Levingston. Karen Brooks Hopkins, president emerita of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, serves as an executive producer.

We talked with Taylor (aka Pandora) and Burstein (Creator and showrunner) to talk about the podcast becoming a resource and stepping stone into Greek mythology, getting insight into what the recording sessions are like, and the educational value of the Live from Mount Olympus franchise. Read on to find out more from the duo before you listen!

Julie, with a background in radio, what is the day-to-day experience of showrunning a podcast, particularly for this upcoming season?

Julie Burstein: It’s such a pleasure to discuss this. In my previous work in radio, I focused mostly on arts reporting, which I love. But for this project, I get to work with actors like Nedra. The day-to-day process is really a cycle. We start by choosing a myth, and then I collaborate with my fabulous writer, Nathan Youngerberg, who Nedra knows. In fact, he was one of the first to suggest that Nedra would be perfect for the role of Pandora. Together, we create the stories and share them with our directors, Rachel Chavkin, Zhailon Levingston, and Keenan Tyler-Oliphant. They provide us with feedback, as do our advisors, and then we sit down for a table read with the actors. That part is so much fun because it’s the first time we hear the story come to life, and everyone brings great insights into their characters and the arcs of the different episodes.

The recording sessions are truly joyful. The actors are phenomenal, and the directors find ways to bring the stories to life. After recording, there are several stages, including editing and reviewing the voice tracks, which the directors oversee. Then, my production team gets to work. Our sound designer, Yoni Reckham, searches for sounds for Pandora. We even did some field recording, which I can tell you more about later.

Our audio producer takes over from there, and our composer, Magda Giannikou, listens to everything we've put together to write the music that underpins the production. My sound designer and I spend hours on what a friend of mine calls the "fine embroidery," bringing together the music, dialogue, and sound effects to create a rich experience for our listeners. Once that’s complete, we have an artist who creates wonderful drawings for each episode, and then we release it. That’s the full circle of our process.

Nedra, as an actress who is so familiar with the stage, what are some moments from recording that resonate with you when you speak from Pandora’s perspective?

Nedra Marie Taylor: Great question! Speaking of the stage, it truly feels like I’m using the same instrument in the studio; I just have to be mindful of my volume. The experience actually feels so much... this might sound a little strange, but it feels warmer than being on stage.

To me, the studio feels like being enveloped in a cocoon, a really safe place to emote. Especially in a large studio where the entire cast can be there with you, it’s almost like a tribal circle. We’re able to see each other and connect without worrying about an audience. I love the stage, but in the studio, we don’t have to contend with the hundreds of other energies in the room. It feels like we’re creating something really intimate together. Because of that, I feel much freer in the studio. There isn’t really any gaze on you; the focus is on conveying what’s coming through your voice. You’re not thinking about, “What is my body doing?” or “Do I look good for the camera today?”

Instead, it’s all about how much energy I can put into my words and sharing that space with other artists. It’s genuinely comforting and enjoyable. I love being in the studio!

JB: Nedra, I’m in awe of how you create a character using just your voice. Tiara, you may know that Nedra was Demeter in Season 2, where she had to portray Demeter in two different ways. With Pandora, the way we’re telling the story allows Nedra to take this character—who we think we know—and reveal layers we never imagined before. It was wonderful to watch you do that in the recording session, Nedra, transforming a character from one portrayal to something much deeper.

NT: Thank you for saying that, Julie. It’s really important, Tiara, for you to hear the unique perspective they’re bringing to the story, especially as a woman-led organization. I love how you all are approaching it, and I believe it’s important to discuss.

I find this season to be really unique, especially considering the previous ones. There’s also an educational element, which is obvious but important. Julie, I’d love to ask you, as a member of the creative and production team, what input do you have regarding the educational aspect of the show, and how does it resonate with others?

JB: That's a really good question. It’s interesting to think about these stories, and as Nathan and I wrestle with them, we consider the fact that they have been told over and over again in very different ways. For us, this gives us the liberty to ask, “How would we tell this story in 2024? What resonates with us?”

It always starts with our perspective, and then we think about what would resonate with an eight-, nine-, or ten-year-old. We really see ourselves as entertainment first. Our goal is to make these stories so engaging and exciting that kids want to keep listening.

With Pandora, especially, one of our objectives was to challenge the idea that there’s only a single story. We wanted to explore how the storyteller influences the narrative. This is particularly true with Pandora. The version of the story we know mostly comes from Hesiod, who told it in two different ways, both of which are, frankly, very misogynistic.

During our research, Sofia [Pipa] from the Onassis team pointed out that Pandora’s story is depicted in a relief sculpture around the base of the Athena statue in the Parthenon. That blew my mind because I didn't know that. We began to dig deeper and realized that this story likely predates the Olympian gods. In this relief sculpture, Pandora emerges from the Earth. In our version, Hephaestus creates her out of clay, which aligns with what Hesiod says. However, it awakened us to the idea that Pandora actually connects to the most ancient Earth goddesses, like Gaea.

For me, there’s an intriguing way to examine these myths—considering how matriarchal religions were pushed aside by patriarchal ones, represented by figures like Jesus and his siblings. The gods are layered over this more ancient understanding of the world. While I wouldn’t call it educational exactly, I believe it’s crucial for kids to understand that stories change depending on who tells them, especially in today’s context.

Young children learn the story and grow up to understand different retellings. It’s fascinating to hear, especially from you as the creator, about the research process. Nedra—did you already know a lot about this, or was it all new information for you when it came to portraying Pandora? What was your research process like for voicing this character?

NT: I see it as totally educational, Julie. My perspective is different because I knew as much as the average American about Greek mythology. I only knew the phrase “Pandora’s box” and its colloquial meaning, but I didn’t know the actual story of Pandora, her creation, her mission on Earth, or that she was the first woman. That was all new to me. For me, it was a huge education, both before entering the booth and while I was in it.

I really didn’t know much, and that applies to pretty much every story being told in the series Live from Mount Olympus. The education I received as a child regarding Greek mythology was minimal, and there wasn’t much exploration of it in my household. Through this work, I’m getting my own adult education and relearning these stories, discovering just how powerful the female spirit and form are in Greek mythology. That has been a huge takeaway for me, especially with Pandora.

JB: I think about Demeter. For that character, we went back to the ancient [Homeric] Hymn to Demeter, which tells the story of Demeter and Persephone, primarily focusing on Demeter. When we tell the story of Persephone, we often simplify it to her being taken to Hades and then brought back by her mother. However, that hymn reveals just how far Demeter was willing to go—she was prepared to let everything perish if she didn't get her daughter back. I had never encountered that depth before.

My mom read me Greek myths when I was little; in fact, I have D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths on my bookshelf right here. She read from it every night. These myths have been a part of my life for so long. My mom even wrote her dissertation on how the Victorians used Greek myth in their novels.

I love hearing, Nedra, that this is an introduction for you. It’s really great to know that these stories continue to capture interest. They show up in so many other contexts, and once you hear the originals, you start to connect the dots. For example, with Narcissus, as we think about what we’ll do in the next season, we ask ourselves, “What stories are bubbling up, like Pandora and her box?” The more we know, the more interesting they become.

NT: Absolutely. These myths are completely woven into the fabric of our culture, right? So many references come from them, yet we often don’t know their origins. This has been really educational for me.

JB: The whole impetus for this series was that Onassis asked me to work with them to create several different ideas for podcasts. This particular project came about because I was with a friend who teaches sixth and seventh grade at a charter school in Newark, New Jersey. She mentioned that the kids were always asking her, "When are we going to learn about Greek myths?"

Unfortunately, she had to tell them, "Probably never," because those topics aren’t on the state test for New Jersey schools. Hearing that these kids were hungry for these stories made me think: What if we created a way for them to access these myths for free on their phones, or wherever they listen to podcasts? That’s what led to the creation of this dramatic retelling of the Greek myths.

In our retelling, as you'll hear in episodes two and three, we follow Hesiod, who stated that Zeus told Athena to teach Pandora how to weave, manage a household, and perform other domestic tasks. We decided that weaving would be central to Pandora's character. In the ancient world, one scholar noted that while war was where men made their impact, weaving was equally important because it was how stories were told—woven into tapestries—and how families were kept warm. It could take a woman an entire year to create something for just one child.

What we learned was that the loom isn't what we typically think of; it's called a warp-weighted loom. We researched warp-weighted looms and found some in Iceland. We also discovered a woman in Inwood, New York, who had set up a warp-weighted loom in her son's bedroom when he went to college. She graciously allowed us to come and record, and it was an amazing experience.

As the name suggests, the warp threads are weighted at the bottom with ceramic weights. Each time you do something, they clink together like wind chimes. This sound has become the music for episodes two and three. In the first part, Athena weaves a cloth to drape around Pandora, which comes from Eusebius. Then we have Pandora weaving with her granddaughters, exploring her entire story. Through this tapestry, they learn who their grandmother really is. It was so much fun to create!

See below for an embed of the episodes so you can listen to Live from Mount Olympus: Pandora right now!

Live from Mount Olympus: Pandora is available to stream on major audio platforms including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more.