Guy Raz
Raz in 2015
Born (1975-11-09) November 9, 1975
Alma materBrandeis University
Cambridge University
Occupation(s)Podcast/Radio Host
Journalist
SpouseHannah Raz

Guy Raz (/ˈɡ ˈrɑːz/; born November 9, 1975) is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of podcasting. He’s been instrumental in creating some of the most iconic podcasts in the world including How I Built This, the kids science podcast Wow in the World, and TED Radio Hour. Guy is also the force behind the celebrity interview podcast The Great Creators and the business podcast Wisdom from the Top. The New York Times has described him as “one of the most popular podcasters in history.” Collectively, his shows reach 19 million listeners a month.[1]

Guy is also the author of two New York Times bestsellers including How I Built This and a children’s book The How and Wow of the Human Body (with Mindy Thomas.) He’s co-authored four other children’s books on animals and space.

He’s the co-founder of two media companies including Built-It Productions and the kids and family studio, Tinkercast.

Guy has interviewed more than 20,000 people over a career in broadcasting spanning more than 25 years including presidents, Nobel Prize winners, iconic actors, athletes, musicians and business leaders. Forbes magazine has called him “the greatest interviewer of his generation.”

He’s been profiled in the New York Times, has been named one of the 40 most influential podcasters by The Hollywood Reporter and one of the 40 most influential people in children’s media. Guy has also appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon half a dozen times.

In 2017, Raz became the first person in the history of podcasting to have three shows in the top 20 on the Apple Podcasts charts simultaneously.

Previously, Guy was a foreign correspondent for CNN and NPR where he covered news from more than 50 countries. During his six years abroad, Raz covered everything from wars and conflict zones to sports and entertainment.

He reported from more than 40 countries including the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Macedonia, Afghanistan, and the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Guy was also the weekend host of NPR News' signature afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered. During his tenure (2009-2012), he transformed the sound and format of the program and interviewed figures such as Bill Gates, Condoleezza Rice, Jimmy Carter, Shimon Peres, General David Petraeus, Al Gore, Mark Zuckerberg, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and many, many others.

Raz has anchored live coverage on some of the biggest stories in recent years, including the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Newtown School Shootings, and the 2012 presidential election.

For his work in broadcasting, Guy has been awarded the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and was part of the team that won both the Peabody and DuPont awards. He’s also received the National Headliner award, the NABJ, the Gracie, the Daniel Schorr Prize, a Webby, an iHeart award among several others.

In 2008, he spent a year as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University where he studied classical history.

He has also served as a Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University, a Shapiro fellow at George Washington University, and an adjunct professor of journalism at Georgetown.


Education

Raz graduated from Brandeis University in 1996.[2] He received his master's degree in history from Cambridge University in the UK. In 2008, at age 33, Raz spent a year as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University where he studied classical history.[3]

Career

1997–2000: NPR, All Things Considered

In 1997, at the age of 22, Raz joined NPR as an intern for NPR's afternoon news program All Things Considered. He eventually would work virtually every job in the newsroom from temporary production assistant to breaking news anchor.[3]

In 1998, he served as personal research assistant to former "Murrow Boy" NPR Senior News analyst Daniel Schorr.[4]

He then served as a general assignment reporter, covering the 2000 presidential primaries[5] and the story behind the famous Doors song "Light My Fire" where he interviewed all surviving members of the band.[6][7]

Raz also wrote for other publications during this time, mainly for the Washington City Paper, during the tenure of editor David Carr as well as The Washington Post, among others.[8][9]

Burns Fellow and RIAS Berlin Fellow

In 1999, he was awarded a Burns Fellowship to Germany to embark on a 2-month reporting assignment. His reporting would win the Burns Award for distinguished writing.[10] In the summer of 2000, Raz reported from Germany as a RIAS Berlin fellow. His work on German "Leitkultur" was awarded the RIAS Berlin Award.[11]

2000–2004: NPR foreign correspondent

In mid-2000, Raz was appointed NPR's Berlin bureau chief. He covered Eastern Europe and the Balkans including the conflicts in Kosovo, Macedonia and Afghanistan. In 2002, he became NPR's London bureau chief. While in London, Raz covered stories across Europe and the Middle East including the Iraq War where he spent more than 6 months in 2003 and 2004.

2004–2006: CNN correspondent

In 2004, Raz left NPR to work as CNN's Jerusalem correspondent.[3]

During his time at CNN, Raz covered the death of Yasser Arafat, the rise of Hamas, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank,[12] and the incapacitation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.[13]

Raz taking notes at a press conference in Saudi Arabia, 2007

2006–2009: NPR defense correspondent

Following the 2 years working for CNN, Raz returned to NPR, working as the defense correspondent, covering the Pentagon and the US military.[3]

During his time at the Pentagon, Raz was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Daniel Schorr Prize for his 3-part series on military-medical evacuations from Iraq.[14][15]

2009–2012: NPR, All Things Considered host

In 2009, after a sabbatical year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, Raz became the weekend host of All Things Considered. He is widely credited with transforming Weekend All Things Considered when he took over as host in 2009. He created a weekly "cover story" and the popular segment "Three Minute Fiction."[16][17][18] He created a weekly podcast of this show which was the first time an NPR newsmagazine became a podcast.[3] Raz hosted Weekend All Things Considered from 2009 to 2012. In December 2012, he stepped down from that position in order to expand the TED Radio Hour into a new weekly program to air on NPR beginning in March 2013.[5][6]

2012–present: Podcast host and professor

2013–2019: TED Radio Hour

Beginning in 2013, Raz was the host and editorial director of the TED Radio Hour, a co-production of NPR and TED that takes listeners on a journey through the world of ideas.[3] It is one of the most-downloaded podcasts in the United States.[19] Raz announced he was stepping down from hosting the podcast at the end of 2019.

2016–present: How I Built This

In September 2016, Raz started hosting a new podcast on NPR, called How I Built This about entrepreneurship.[20][21] In 2017, it became one of the 20 most-downloaded podcasts in the United States.[22]

2017–present: Wow in the World

In May 2017, Raz created NPR's first-ever children's program. The podcast, Wow in the World, was co-created with award-winning children's host Mindy Thomas. Raz and Thomas also created a children's production company, Tinkercast, which produces Wow in the World.[23]

Raz is known as the "Cokie Roberts for the 4-8-year-old crowd" as the news analyst for the Breakfast Blast Newscast on Kids Place Live on SiriusXM radio.[3]

2019–present: Wisdom from the Top

In 2019, Raz became the host of the Luminary Podcast "Wisdom from the Top." According to Luminary Podcasts "From Guy Raz comes a chance to slide your chair into boardrooms, C-suites, and the quarters of top brass. Wisdom From the Top brings listeners into conversations with the leaders helming today’s most powerful corporations and organizations, offering direct access to the secrets, mistakes, regrets, and wins that define modern leadership."[24]

2022-present: The Great Creators

In 2022, Raz launched The Great Creators, a podcast produced by Built-It Productions and distributed by Amazon Music/Wondery. The show features conversations about creativity with celebrated actors, musicians, comedians, and other performers.

Teaching

Raz served as a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and taught journalism at Georgetown University and George Washington University.[3][7]

Awards and achievements

Raz was awarded both the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for his reporting on Iraq.[3] His reporting has contributed to two duPont awards and one Peabody awarded to NPR.[3] He has been a finalist for the Livingston Award four times.[3] Other awards Raz has won include the National Headliner Award, ASCAP Deems Taylor Award and an National Association of Black Journalists award.[3]

In 2016, he became the first podcast creator to simultaneously have three shows in the Apple Podcast chart's Top 20 shows.[25]

At age 25, he became the youngest overseas-based bureau chief for NPR, first in Berlin, then London and the Pentagon.[26] He also served as CNN's correspondent in Jerusalem from 2004–2006.

Personal life

Raz was born in West Covina, California and lived in Washington D.C., with his wife, Hannah Raz, who is an attorney, and their two children.[27][28] He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area.[29][30]

References

  1. How Guy Raz Built ‘How I Built This’ The New York Times':. 23 November 2018
  2. "NOTABLE ALUMNI". Brandeis University. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "About Guy". guyraz.com. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  4. "Daniel Schorr remembers Edward R. Murrow". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  5. "Bauer Out". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  6. "Set The Night On Fire: Behind The Doors' 'Light My Fire'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  7. 1 2 "Guy Raz". KCRW. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  8. "How City Paper Remembers David Carr". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  9. The WP Magazine (October 19, 2016). "Guy Raz, host of NPR's 'TED Radio Hour,' on the everyday failures of journalism". The Washington Post.
  10. "ICFJ". icfj.org/.
  11. "2001 – Rias Berlin Commission". riasberlin.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  12. "CNN.com - Transcripts". transcripts.cnn.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  13. "CNN.com - Raz: Small nation, huge influence - Jan 6, 2006". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  14. "NPR NEWS RECEIVES TWO 2008 RTNDA EDWARD R. MURROW AWARDS". www.npr.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  15. "NPR's Guy Raz Names Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize Winner | Public Relations". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  16. "Revamped All Things Considered brings new sound to weekends". Current. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  17. Fallows, James. "Farewell to Guy Raz at WATC". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  18. Moss, E.B. (2015-10-22). "Getting to Know "TED Radio Hour" Host Guy Raz". MediaVillage. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  19. "Top 20 Podcasts of 2017". Podtrac. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  20. "NPR Debuts 'How I Built This With Guy Raz'". NPR Press Room. NPR. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  21. Milanes, Nick (12 September 2016). "3 Tips on How to Start a Business from NPR's New Podcast". Gear Patrol. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  22. "Top 20 Podcasts of 2017". Podtrac. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  23. Hess, Amanda (2017-10-03). "The New Bedtime Story Is a Podcast". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  24. "Luminary. A new way to podcast". Luminary Podcasts.
  25. "Guy Raz '96 | Brandeis Magazine". Brandeis Magazine. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  26. "Guy Raz". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  27. "Guy Raz of 'TED Radio Hour' on the everyday failures of journalism". Washington Post. 2016-10-20. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  28. I'm Guy Raz, NPR Host, and This Is How I Parent Offspring. 19 July 2018
  29. "TED Radio Wow-er". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  30. Guy, Raz (June 26, 2020). "Guy Raz: Host and Creator: How I Built This, Wow in the World, Wisdom from the Top". LinkedIn. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
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