Guy Raz
Guy Raz is an independent producer who has been described by the New York Times as "one of the most popular podcasters in history."
He's the founder and CEO of Built-It Productions and the creator and the creative force behind How I Built This. He's also the former host and co-creator of TED Radio Hour.
Guy is also the co-founder of Tinkercast, a children's media company that produces audio podcasts and educational content for kids. Guy co-created and hosts one of those programs, Wow in the World—the number one kids podcast in English.
He's also the creator/host of Wisdom from the Top, a podcast about leadership and The Rewind on Spotify, a program about music.
Together, Guy's programs are heard by nearly 19 million listeners a month.
In 2017, Raz became the first person in the history of podcasting to have three shows in the top 20 on the Apple Podcast charts.
He's been a regular guest on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and is a two-time, New York Times bestselling author. His books include How I Built This and Wow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body (co-authored with Mindy Thomas.)
Previously, Raz was 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, introducing the now-signature "cover story" and creating the popular "Three-Minute Fiction" writing contest.
Raz started his career as an intern on All Things Considered with NPR in 1997. He would go on to work as a production assistant, studio director all the way to foreign correspondent and breaking news host.
His first job in journalism was as assistant to the legendary news reporter Daniel Schorr.
In 2000, at the age of 25, Raz was made NPR's Berlin bureau chief where he covered Eastern Europe and the Balkans. 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, and the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Raz also served as NPR's bureau chief in London, and between 2004-2006 as CNN's Jerusalem correspondent. During this time, Raz chronicled everything from the rise of Hamas as a political power to the incapacitation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In 2006, Raz returned to NPR to serve as defense correspondent where he covered the Pentagon and the US military.
For his reporting from Iraq, Raz was awarded both the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Daniel Schorr Journalism prize. His reporting has contributed to two duPont awards and one Peabody awarded to NPR. He's been a finalist for the Livingston Award four times. He's won the National Headliner Award and an NABJ award, in addition to many others. In 2008, he spent a year as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University where he studied classical history.
As a host and correspondent, Raz has interviewed and profiled more than 10,000 people including Bill Gates, Condoleezza Rice, Jimmy Carter, Shimon Peres, General David Petraeus, Al Gore, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, 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.
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.
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Take one part Billie Holiday, two parts Doris Day, toss in a little island indie-pop and you get Zee Avi, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Malaysia who's just released her eponymous debut album. Avi talks to Guy Raz about her musical influences.
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Asleep In The Bread Aisle is the latest release from rapper Asher Roth, who grew up white in the suburbs. Roth says he hopes his work — as well as the person he happens to be — will challenge the hip-hop community. -
The maker of Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth has just released his first novel. The Strain merges the folklore of vampire tales with the very modern paranoia over pandemics.
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Pressure to send more troops into Afghanistan presents military planners with a logistical challenge. Factor in training and recovery time — and a "surge" in Afghanistan isn't likely until the spring of 2009.
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Swedish jazz pianist Esbjorn Svensson died last week in a scuba diving accident. He was 44 years old. His trio, known as E.S.T., had a large following in Europe. Svensson's music combined elements of hip hop, funk and rock. He was often called the European Keith Jarrett.
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His given name is Jeffrey Lebowski — but the stoner hero of The Big Lebowski prefers to be called the Dude. As Guy Raz discovers, he's part fiction, part reality. But there's a little Dude in each of us.
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The top military commander in Iraq has recommended a temporary freeze on U.S. troop reductions in Iraq after July. Gen. David Petraeus made the comments to senators Tuesday on Capitol Hill. Today, Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker return to brief members of the House.
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The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, briefs both the Senate Armed Services and the Senate Foreign Relations committees Tuesday on the military situation in Iraq. Lawmakers will also be updated on political developments by the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker.
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The Pentagon says it has charged six detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder in connection with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The men will become the first Guantanamo prisoners to face trial. And if they're convicted, they could receive the death penalty. The six include Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind.
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By the end of 2008, the United States will spend three-quarters of a trillion dollars on defense. Adjusted for inflation, the Pentagon's latest budget will be the highest since the end of World War II. Yet, over the past seven years, troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced equipment shortages and lack of proper armor.
