You Didn’t See Nothin

Invisible Institute and USG Audio

You Didn’t See Nothin’ is a mélange of different forms and intents. To varying degrees, it’s a memoir, a piece of investigative documentary, a historical corrective, and a sober reflection on the difficulty of justice. But above all, it’s a provocation. The podcast sees host Yohance Lacour revisiting a 1997 hate crime that took place on his side of Chicago: Lenard Clark, a young Black boy, was beaten into a coma by white teenagers. The event drew Lacour into investigative journalism as he sought justice, but he would ultimately grow disillusioned with the profession after watching the case transmogrify into an excessively simplistic tale of racial reconciliation—a process helped along by a complicit media ecosystem and local Black leadership. Lacour, now decades older and collaborating with a team of producers (including Bill Healy, Sarah Geis, Erisa Apantaku, and Dana Brozost-Kelleher), returns to interrogate the collective memory of Clark’s story with an abundance of verve and moral clarity. For its spirited inquiry, aesthetic heights, and its bold questioning of the limits of journalism, You Didn’t See Nothin’ is recognized with a Peabody.

PRIMARY PRODUCTION CREDITS

Creators: Yohance Lacour, Bill Healy, Sarah Geis, Erisa Apantaku, Dana Brozost-Kelleher.  Executive Producers: Alison Flowers, Jaime Kalven, Josh Bloch. Sound/Music: Steven Jackson, Phil Dmochowski, Taka Yasuzawa, Alex Sugiura.