Staff

Ira Glass

Host and Executive Producer

Ira Glass started working in public radio in 1978, when he was 19, as an intern at NPR’s headquarters in D.C. Over the next 17 years, he worked on nearly every NPR news show and did nearly every production job they had: tape-cutter, desk assistant, newscast writer, editor, producer, reporter, and substitute host. He moved to Chicago in 1989 and put This American Life on the air in 1995.

Sarah Abdurrahman

Managing Editor

Sarah came to This American Life from Gimlet Media, where she was a Senior Producer, and where she launched and ran a number of the company's shows. Most recently, Sarah was the Senior Producer for The Nod

Bim Adewunmi

Producer

Bim is a journalist and playwright who has written for BuzzFeed News, the Guardian, Vogue and many other titles. For Follow This on Netflix, she reported on Amish romance novels, Black survivalists, and modest fashion. She also cohosts a podcast called Thirst Aid Kit. As her accent suggests, she is British.

Sona Banker

CFO

Sona joined This American Life and Serial as CFO in 2016.  She provides strategic and financial guidance to start-up and high-growth businesses as Founder of Banker Financial Consulting. Prior to that, she spent eight years at Goldman Sachs Group. Sona is a CFA charterholder and received a B.A. from the University of Chicago, where she also ran cross country and track. She’s completed three NYC marathons and the Boston Marathon.

Chris Benderev

Producer

Chris comes to the show following more than a decade at NPR, producing and reporting for its newsroom, Science Desk and the podcast Embedded. He most recently reported the five-part documentary series, "Capital Gazette," which follows a group of mass shooting survivors over three years.

Phia Bennin

Editor

Phia was a fellow at This American Life in 2013. In the near decade since, she produced stories for WNYC’s Radiolab, then NPR’s Planet Money, and finally Gimlet Media’s Reply All, where she worked as the show’s supervising producer. 

Emanuele Berry

Executive Editor

Emanuele came to This American Life from Gimlet Media. There she worked on several shows including The Nod, Undone and StartUp. Previously, Emanuele worked as a public radio reporter in Michigan and Missouri. Emanuele is a 2014 AIR New Voices Scholar. She is also the recipient of a 2015 Fulbright award to Macau, China. 

Jendayi Bonds

Office Coordinator

Jendayi is a musician and event curator who joins This American Life after working as a music supervisor for brands like Google, Apple, and Instagram. She writes and performs with her brother under the band name Charlie Belle, whose music has been recognized by NPR, WIRED, The Guardian, VICE, Billboard and more. On the weekends you can catch her hosting events for the BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ community and gigging around Brooklyn.

Susan Burton

Editor

Susan Burton came to This American Life as a producer in 1999 and rejoined the show in 2016. She's written for The New York Times Magazine and other publications. Susan is the author of the memoir Empty.

Zoe Chace

Producer

Zoe joined the show in 2015. Before that, she was a reporter for NPR’s Planet Money team, as well as an NPR producer.

Dana Chivvis

Supervising Producer

Dana joined This American Life as the fellow in 2013. Before that, she covered education at NBC News and was a photo editor at National Geographic. She also works as a producer on Serial.

Sean Cole

Supervising Producer

Sean contributed to the show on and off starting in 1999, and then came on staff in February 2014. He’s also worked as a producer at Radiolab, a regular contributor to Marketplace, and a freelance reporter for lots of other radio shows and podcasts, including Studio 360 and 99% Invisible. Sean’s poems have been published in many journals and chapbooks and in the collection After These Messages.

Michal Comite

Senior Mixer

Mike joined the show in December 2021. Prior to that, he produced and mixed the investigative comedy podcast Dead Eyes at Headgum Studios. He writes songs and composes music under the moniker Old Best Friend.

Aviva DeKornfeld

Producer

Before coming to This American Life, Aviva worked at NPR's Planet Money. She's also a graduate of the Transom Storytelling Workshop in Wood's Hole.

Bethel Habte

Editor

Bethel joins us from Serial. Before that she reported, produced and edited stories for Reply AllResistance and Radiolab. She also worked as a breaking news editor for Reuters.com during Brexit and the 2016 election cycle.

Cassie Howley

Finance Manager

Cassie joined This American Life as Finance Manager in 2018.  As a Certified Public Accountant, she has focused her career on helping mission-driven companies grow stronger financially.  When she’s not behind a computer screen, you might find her behind a sewing machine.

Chana Joffe-Walt

Producer

Chana won a Peabody Award for her coverage of education and our shows on school segregation. Before joining the show, Chana reported on schools, health care and global economics for NPR, where she helped create NPR’s Planet Money

David Kestenbaum

Senior Editor

David came to This American Life from NPR where he was a reporter for 18 years covering science and eventually economics with the Planet Money team. He has a Ph.D. in particle physics.

Valerie Kipnis

Associate Producer

Valeriya, who also goes by Valerie, came to This American Life from her Fulbright to Ukraine, which she spent in Poland. Before that, she was an Emmy-award winning producer and reporter covering national news for Vice News. She is a graduate of NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and The New School's MFA Program in Nonfiction Writing. In her spare time, she's working on her first book about immigrants and language.

Seth Lind

Director of Operations

Seth joined This American Life as production manager in 2006. As director of operations, he heads up sponsorship, partnerships and distribution. He is also co-creator of the improvised science fiction podcast Mission to ZyxxIn 2015, he created and hosted the podcast festival Cast Party, beamed live into 500 movie theaters. 

Tobin Low

Editor

Tobin is the co-creator of the LGBTQ podcast Nancy, which recently concluded its award-winning run at WNYC Studios. He has also served as a producer on shows like Radiolab and More Perfect. Before making the jump to radio, Tobin worked in New York as a professional cellist; and before that, he was a child who attended circus camp.

Miki Meek

Senior Producer

Miki Meek interned and freelanced for the show before joining the staff in December 2012. Previously, she worked as an online producer and editor at National Geographic and The New York Times. Miki has won two Emmy Awards for new approaches to documentary programming, and a duPont Award for her immigration coverage.

Katherine Rae Mondo

Mixer

Rae has a background in sound for film, live audio, and documentary editing. Before working at This American Life, she was often found with the audio department of Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting. When not doing audio things, she loves riding her bike. 

Stowe Nelson

Production Manager

Stowe joined This American Life in 2018. He also mixed and sound designed Nice White Parents and the third season of Serial. Before joining the show, he worked primarily as a theatrical sound designer, specializing in new and devised plays.

Nadia Reiman

Editor

Nadia Reiman is an Editor of This American Life. She produced and reported The Out Crowd, which earned the show the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting. Previously, Nadia was the Senior Editor at NPR's Latino USA, and she has also worked at StoryCorps. Nadia started making radio in 2005, covering Capitol Hill for a small Spanish-language politics show.

Safiyah Riddle

Fellow

Before coming to This American Life, Safiyah was a freelance reporter whose work has appeared in THE CITY, HellGate, Reuters, WNYC, WBAI, and most recently, StoryCorps. She recently graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she concentrated on audio and data reporting, and she's the recipient of the Silurians Press Club’s Dennis Duggan award. On the weekends you might find Safiyah swimming long distances at Brighton Beach, even in the winter.

Alissa Shipp

Producer

Alissa has been a producer at This American Life since July 2006. She handles film and television adaptations, and rights, for the show.  She most recently produced, for Netflix, the movie Come Sunday, which was based on the 2005 episode "Heretics."  She also occasionally works on stories for the radio show.  Prior to This American Life, Alissa worked as a production executive at Warner Bros., and at a number of film and publishing jobs. 

Alix Spiegel

Senior Producer

Alix was one of the founding producers of This American Life back in 1995. She went on to do decorated work for NPR’s science desk as a human behavior reporter, and is perhaps best known as one of the founding hosts and co-creators of the NPR podcast Invisibilia, which launched in 2015. Her work has won many awards including a Dupont, a Livingston, and a Robert F Kennedy. She's also written for the New Yorker and The New York Times.

Laura Starecheski

Editor

Laura comes to This American Life from Reveal, where they were a lead producer and reporter for “American Rehab,” a series that catalyzed a federal investigation into the addiction treatment industry. At Reveal, they also covered everything from racial discrimination in mortgage lending to the Pizzagate conspiracy theory. Laura got their start as a fact-checker before beginning in public radio at WNYC, and later reported for State of the Re:Union and NPR's Science Desk.

Lilly Sullivan

Producer

Lilly joined the show in 2015. Before that, she worked with StoryCorps recording oral histories around the country. She used to work with literature. 

Frances Swanson

Operations Manager

Frances joined This American Life as the office manager in 2018. She also works as a freelance stage manager for various theater companies around NYC. 

Christopher Swetala

Head of Fact-Checking

Christopher Swetala joined the show as the head of fact-checking in 2015. He’s written about his job for transom.org

Matt Tierney

Technical Director

Matt joined This American Life in 2015.  For much of his career prior to that, he worked nationally and internationally as a theatrical sound designer.  He was nominated for a Tony Award in 2014.

Nancy Updike

Senior Editor

Nancy Updike is one of the founding producers of This American Life.

Julie Whitaker

Digital Manager

Julie helps run all things digital for This American Life. Her previous work includes time at WNYC, BuzzFeed, Doctors Without Borders, and a brief stint in politics during which she managed social media for a presidential candidate.

Diane Wu

Deputy Managing Editor

Diane started at the show as a fellow in 2017. She's also worked at Science Vs from Gimlet Media. Before that, she was a scientist.