An Evening with Julie Snyder, Senior Producer of This American Life

Julie Snyder, This American Life
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Wednesday, January 22, 2014
7:30pm
Paul Brest Hall, Munger Graduate Center
Free, open to the public, but seating is limited

With almost 2 million listeners each week and the most downloaded podcast in America, This American Life is well known for using the traditional tools of journalism to document everyday life. But sometimes the show has flipped that equation by using the tools of personal narrative to document more traditional, topical “news” stories. Julie Snyder, the Senior Producer of This American Life, has produced and edited many of these kinds of stories—stories about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the financial crisis, the healthcare system and gun violence, among others. In this very special evening, she will talk about some of the successful ways she has learned to use personal narratives to tackle these kinds stories, and the challenges and pitfalls she has encountered along the way.

Julie Snyder joined the staff of This American Life in 1997, first as a producer and later becoming Senior Producer of the radio show and Executive Producer of the This American Life television show. As Senior Producer, she is responsible for finding and developing stories for the show and, with Ira Glass, establishing the show’s editorial direction and shaping its content. This American Life is heard on more than 500 public stations and has won several broadcasting awards, including the Peabody and DuPont-Columbia awards; its television show won an Emmy in for Outstanding Nonfiction Series. Before joining the show, Julie worked at WGN Radio in Chicago and as a news anchor and reporter at radio stations in Santa Cruz, California.