In April 1984, the first issue of American Theatre was released, with Sam Shepard on the cover. 30 years and countless issues, stories and artists later, the magazine has hit its 30th birthday with our April 2014 issue, where a long interview with director/auteur Alex Timbers as the centerpiece. How’s that for a birthday present?

To look back on how far we’ve come, we have decided to tell the story of the magazine’s founding via our podcast AT Offscript. Listen below as senior editor Eliza Bent chats with our founders, publisher Terry Nemeth and editor-in-chief Jim O’Quinn, who reminisce about early mishaps, their favorite articles, and the future of magazine publishing and AT (if you listen closely, you might hear a special announcement about an exciting new AT initiative).

To quote O’Quinn in his inaugural editor’s note 30 years ago, “We are pleased to have you as a reader.”