Producer

Radiolab, pioneer of narrative nonfiction podcasting, is seeking a full-time Producer to join the team. Radiolab producers take ideas from pitch to broadcast, participating in all parts of the production process. We’re seeking an ambitious, deep-thinking, deep-feeling journalist who is obsessed with great stories, eager to help our team tackle the big questions facing our world today. The Producer will spend much of their time deep in tape, sorting through vast amounts of audio, crafting the arc of the episode in ProTools, and building out the story. They will work closely with the editorial team, making new drafts of episodes. Sometimes the Producer will work on ideas they’ve pitched; oftentimes they’ll produce other team member’s work. The Producer will help craft the soundscape of the show.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Regularly produce episodes from pitch to broadcast with minimal support

• Find, pitch more ambitious, nuanced, and successful story ideas

• Develop the arc of an episodes and craft narratives, with minimal editorial support

• Executing notes from editors on new drafts of episodes

• Cut interview selects and tracking tape

• Source archival tape

• Research for story ideas, booking guests, arranging logistics (ie ISDN, travel)

• Pre-interview, book potential guests, engineer in-studio interviews and tracking

• Perform field reporting and/or recording

• Conceive of storyboards with the team 

• Write narration and craft the sound design/soundscape of episodes.

• Create new drafts of episodes in ProTools, experimenting relentlessly with story construction

• Liaise with fact checker for episodes

• Write and produce content for web, newsletter, and other platforms as needed

Key Qualifications:

• At least five years experience producing, reporting and/or editing in long-form narrative audio, and/or comparable experience in a related field

• Preferably has experience creating stories similar to the ones heard on Radiolab

• Has a clear grasp of what makes a surprising, impactful and complicated story that could be heard on Radiolab

• Has a proven ability to develop story arc and narrative

• Has solid journalism skills including: interviewing, database research and fact checking

• Has experience with linear editing software (ProTools, Logic, et cetera), and an advanced understanding of sound design

• Sense of humor and musicality are a plus

It's important on the Radiolab team for everyone to work hard, be willing to pitch in on whatever is needed to get the job done, have an open mind, demonstrate integrity in their journalism, be wildly curious, and not be afraid to be a little bit weird.

Additional Information

This is a full-time non-exempt position with a salary range of $87,771-$95,000 and includes eligibility for medical, dental and vision insurance through SAG-AFTRA.

This role is based in New York City and is expected to work at our NYC Headquarters  two days per week.

This position is covered by a collective bargaining agreement between New York Public Radio and SAG-AFTRA.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

New York Public Radio is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We continuously strive to place our employees at the center of our thinking and elevate inclusive practices to develop and support a more engaged and productive workforce. Our journalism and operations in the service of that journalism benefit from a broad range of perspectives, from all backgrounds, at all levels of the organization. Diversity is essential to honest, authentic, accurate storytelling and reportage; creating an institution in which all voices are encouraged, valued, and heard.

Equal Opportunity

New York Public Radio is an equal opportunity employer committed to achieving the goal of equal employment opportunity for all. Applicants and employees are considered and evaluated for positions without regard to mental or physical disability, race, creed, color, religion, gender, national origin, citizenship status, age, genetic information, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, employment status or any protected federal, state or local status unrelated to the performance of the work involved. 

About Radiolab:

Created in 2002 by host Jad Abumrad, and now co-hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser, Radiolab began as an exploration of science, philosophy, and ethics using innovative composition and sound design. Radiolab has expanded and evolved to become a platform for long-form journalism and storytelling. The show challenges its listeners’ preconceived notions about how the world works. Radiolab provokes, it moves, it delights, and it asks its audience to see the world around them anew. 

In the past year, the show released a series on a Guantanamo Bay detainee named Latif Nasser; covered the pandemic (by looking at the present and the past); composed an experimental non-narrative meditation on the end of the world; reported out topical stories on the power of protest (here and here, too), the risk of Donald Trump trying to steal the election, the responsibilities of the police (and lack thereof); and escaped to the bottom of the sea to spend time with an octomom.

Since its founding nearly two decades ago, Radiolab has won some of the most prestigious awards in journalism, including two George Foster Peabody Awards, Third Coast awards, The Silver Gavel, as well as other accolades. In 2011 Abumrad received the MacArthur Genius grant. The show has spawned successful spinoff series, like More Perfect, Gonads, The Other Latif, G, Border Trilogy, and Radiolab for Kids.