Nat'l Geographic podcast explores the global slave trade through a team of Black divers

Tara Roberts, a National Geographic Explorer and storyteller, says during the Atlantic slave trade, research shows that 12,000 ships brought over 12.5 million Africans to the Americas, and it’s estimated 1,000 ships wrecked— and less than 10 of those ships have been found and properly documented.

Roberts joined “Closer Look” on Thursday to explain how a museum trip inspired her to learn more about Black scuba divers and her new six-part podcast series, “Into the Depths,” which follows a team of Black divers on a quest to explore the complex history of the global slave trade.

“I think a lot of the stories and the coverage of our past stays inside of the pain and it stays inside of the trauma, but this workly surprisingly is a way to move beyond the pain to hope, to possibility and to honoring,” said Roberts.