As we roll out a fresh batch of SUBCARRIER episodes beginning this month, we want to introduce at least part of the team that brings APT's weekly music series to television and digital: the Whitsons.

A brother duo from Birmingham, Alabama, Matt and J. Whitson work for Alabama Public Television telling miraculous stories of the people of Alabama. With about three years in between them, Matt and J. had different ideas of what trajectory their careers might take them in college. But after a wide range of experiences and Matt finding himself intrigued by the work with APT, they both eventually landed a job and have been working for APT for more than 20 years. While their official titles are “documentary production specialist”, they wear many hats. Matt serves as the designated audio production specialist for APT, working on series for the YouTube Channel like Monograph and Garden Party, and works on APT documentaries as well. On the other hand, J. works closely with both digital media and production, working on documentaries and series, producing, researching and managing projects on many different topics.

Their main collaboration has been on two music series, WE HAVE SIGNAL recorded at Bottletree for several years, and the ongoing series SUBCARRIER which is recorded at Saturn in Avondale, bringing emerging musical artists to public television through live recordings. (The two series are combined on APT's YouTube channel as LIVE FROM BIRMINGHAM.) The two series’ purpose has been the same: to bring musical artists from all over that are either unknown or on the climb to the screens of people all over Alabama. “I know one dude very specifically that saw ‘We Have Signal’ on TV … and he lived out in the middle of the woods and was watching broadcast television and was like ‘I have to move to Birmingham’ and he did”, said Matt in an interview. J. followed up and said, “That’s exactly what we wanted to have happen - that people that were out in the middle of nowhere with no internet could see that there were still things like this happening in their state.”

This sentiment is a constant in all the work they do for Alabama Public Television. In addition to YouTube series like Monograph and Garden Party, a multitude of productions Matt and J. have worked on highlight the complexities of the people of Alabama. Some of the newer examples include an episode of the PBS Digital Studios series  IN THE MARGINS  titled “Tuskegee: Where a Hospital Became a Battleground”, and the documentary SHUTTLESWORTH that was nominated for an Emmy award after premiering in 2022. WORLD WAR II: ALABAMA REMEMBERS, produced as a companion to Ken Burn's film THE WAR, told the stories of Alabama veterans from Pearl Harbor to the liberation of Nazi death camps.

“There’s always a narrative about Alabama… and there are all of these countervailing examples of people in Alabama that are working for good … and have been throughout its history,” said J. “It’s the mission of public broadcasting … bringing things to people that they wouldn’t see anywhere else, and that’s a big part of everything we do.”

Matt and J. are passionate about the work they have done and continue to do, telling stories of the incredible people of Alabama on public television. You can watch most of their series or documentaries on Alabama Public Television, pbs.org, or the APT YouTube Channel.

“Everything we do, we’re doing because it’s something that should exist in the world.”
- Matt Whitson