30 for 30 Podcasts will return this spring with its first serialized season: five episodes that delve deep into the complicated world of Bikram Yoga—a community grappling with its own identity and survival in the wake of sexual assault allegations against its charismatic guru and founder, Bikram Choudhury. The entire season will be released on the same day, Tuesday, May 22, for listeners to enjoy at the pace they choose. 30 for 30 Podcasts can be found on the ESPN App, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn and wherever podcasts are available.
Reported and produced by ESPN’s Julia Lowrie Henderson, the series explores how this young Indian yogi used his connections with celebrities such as Shirley MacLaine, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Quincy Jones to launch a hot yoga empire that changed yoga in America forever. As Choudhury rode the money train of fitness-obsessed America, the Speedo-clad and Rolex-wearing guru used the healing powers of his yoga revolution to hide his increasingly dark behavior – bilking business partners, verbally harassing students, and ultimately sexually assaulting several followers. Today, there is a warrant for Choudhury’s arrest and he has filed for bankruptcy and left the country.
Henderson, having practiced and worked in the Bikram Yoga community, uses her experience to help listeners get inside a deeply private community. The series features in-depth interviews with Bikram practitioners, teachers, studio owners, and women who claim to have been abused by Choudhury.
“Approaching a community that I once was a part of – and thought I understood – only to realize how much I didn’t know and how great a toll one man’s struggles have had on his followers has been quite a rollercoaster,” says Henderson. “Questions of identity are never easy, especially when yours becomes so intertwined with someone else’s name. I’m grateful that this story is getting the platform and space that it deserves.”
Jody Avirgan, 30 for 30 Podcasts host and producer, added: “This story checks all of the 30 for 30 boxes. It’s full of compelling characters, big ideas, and offers a lot of lessons for how we think about sports, gender, power and community. Because the story is so layered, it’s worthy of the multi-episode treatment — a new format for us that we’re very excited to experiment with.”
30 for 30 Podcasts, which first debuted in July 2017, tell original sports stories in the likeness of the acclaimed 30 for 30 documentaries, but made exclusively for audio. The first two seasons featured individual episodes that explored and reported on new sports stories that combine original interviews and archival sound. 30 for 30 Podcasts is sponsored by Delta Air Lines and ZipRecruiter.