April 21, 2015 10:53 PM EDT
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner met Serial producers Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder at the TIME 100 gala Tuesday and told them that their hit true crime podcast has been an inspiration to him as a storyteller.
“Listening to Serial reminds me that you have to put yourself in the place of the audience, you have to be a detective.” Weiner said in conversation with Koenig and Snyder. “Sometimes the fact that you don’t know is the story.”
The creators of the AMC show and the hit podcast traded philosophies of building a narrative, and it turns out the two addictive series may have more in common than we thought. Snyder said the work that she and Koenig do has been influenced by the approach to character on Mad Men, noting that “the characters Matt writes are never archetypes.”
Koenig noted she admires the the contemplative tone of some parts of Mad Men: “Even though it’s TV and the characters are talking, there’s a quietness to it that I really like.”
And she added that Mad Men has a special place in her heart because of her family history in the advertising business. “My father was a real-life Mad Man– Julian Koenig. He ran one of the first upstart ad agencies on Madison Avenue,” Koenig says.
See the Stars at the 2015 TIME 100 Gala Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Brendan McDermid—Reuters Emma Watson attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Andrew Toth—FilmMagic/Getty Images Julianne Moore attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Lorne Michaels attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY on Apr. 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West, along with Amy Schumer, attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Faith Hill and Tim McGraw attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. 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Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Guests at the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Martha Stewart and Kim Kardashian West attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Larry Busacca—Getty Images for TIME Bradley Cooper and Willie Geist attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Bradley Cooper and Emma Watson attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Laverne Cox attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City April 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Diane von Furstenberg and Julianne Moore attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Christopher Nolan talks to TIME reporter Nolan Feeney during the TIME 100 gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Jemal Countess—Getty Images for TIME Kim Kardashian West attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Martha Stewart and Karlie Kloss attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME John Oliver attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City April 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Samantha Powers, Ronan Farrow, Mia Farrow, and Cass Sunstein attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015.
Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Craig Venter and Elizabeth Holmes attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Bradley Cooper, Jane Boon, Norman Pearlstein attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Patrick McMullan —Sipa USA Faith Hill and Tim McGraw attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Barbara Walters and Diane von Furstenberg attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Larry Busacca—Getty Images for TIME Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe and Kira Orange-Jones attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Arianna Huffington, Nancy Gibbs and Samantha Power
attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Brian Grazer and guest attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME Lee Daniels and Clara Watson attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Jemal Countess—Getty Images for TIME Tim McGraw performs onstage during TIME 100 Gala, TIME's 100 Most Influential People In The World at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Apr. 21, 2015 in New York City. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Bradley Cooper, Nancy Gibbs, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian West attend the TIME 100 gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Apr. 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Kanye West performs at TIME 100 Gala, TIME's 100 Most Influential People In The World at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Apr. 21, 2015 in New York City. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Kanye West performs on stage at the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Clint Spaulding—Patrick McMullan/Sipa USA Julianna Margulies and Keith Lieberthal attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Patrick McMullan —Sipa USA George Lucas, Kanye West, and Elon Musk attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Bradley Cooper and Lorne Michaels attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Martha Stewart Kanye West attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Patrick McMullan —Sipa USA Laverne Cox, Kim Kardashian and Naomi Campbell attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Patrick McMullan—Sipa USA Marie Kondo, Julianne Moore and Jenna Lyons attend the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 21, 2015. Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Laverne Cox poses with a TIME 100 gift bag as she attends the TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, NY, on Apr. 21, 2015. Andrew Hinderaker for TIME More Must-Reads from TIME