Lea Thau

Radio personality and podcaster

Lea Thau

Born| 1971

Denmark

Citizenship| American
Occupation(s)| Radio and podcast producer
Known for| The Moth, Strangers
Website| StoryCentral.org

Lea Thau (born 1971) is a Peabody Award-winning producer and director. She is the host and producer of the podcast Strangers and the former Executive and Creative Director of The Moth.[1][2]

## Biography

[edit]

Originally from Aarhus, Denmark, Thau moved to Paris at the age of 18, and then to New York at the age of 23 as a visiting scholar in Comparative Literature at Columbia University.[3][4][5]

While living in New York as a graduate student, Thau discovered the then-fledgling live storytelling show The Moth. She began working for the organization in 2000 as a part-time employee, starting the organization's Community Outreach Program.[6][7] In December 2001, she became the Executive and Creative Director, a position she held for a decade before departing in April, 2010. While in that position, she created the short-form Moth Podcast in 2008 and The Moth Radio Hour in 2009 with a broadcast launch to more than 70 public radio stations.[8][9] The show won a Peabody Award in 2010.[10]

In 2011, Thau created the podcast Strangers, which she describes as "stories about people we meet, the connections we make, the heartbreaks we suffer, the kindness we encounter, and the frightful moments when we discover we aren't even who we thought we were".[11] Strangers was started with the support of KCRW's Independent Producer Project in 2012, and it joined the Radiotopia podcast network in 2014.[12][13] Strangers left Radiotopia in December, 2017, to go independent.[14]

Thau lives and works in Los Angeles, California.[5]

## Awards and honors

[edit]

* In 2014, Slate included Strangers on its "25 Best Podcast Episodes Ever" list.[15]
* In 2014, Los Angeles named Strangers one of its "15 Podcasts to Add to Your Permanent Playlist"[16]
* In 2015, Strangers won the Public Radio March Madness Bracket Contest, beating out shows such as This American Life and Radiolab.[17]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Miller, Kelsey (May 19, 2015). "Why Do These Women's Voices Bother You So Much?". Refinery29. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
2. ^ "Lea Thau on learning to let down her guard". Minnesota Public Radio. May 16, 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
3. ^ "Strangers: A podcast connecting people through the power of secrets". Huck Magazine. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
4. ^ "Lea Thau, Director, The Moth". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
5. ^ a b "Murmur » Storytelling that cuts a little deeper". murmur.dk. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
6. ^ Pitzer, Andrea (October 30, 2009). "The Moth's Lea Thau on storytelling". Nieman Storyboard. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
7. ^ Bohlen, Celestine (10 July 2001). "Story Hours for Grown-Ups; Introducing Urbanites to the Lure of a Well-Told Tale". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
8. ^ Williams, Alex (14 August 2009). "Storytellers Finding Success on Stages Big and Small". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
9. ^ "ALBUM #4, AUDIO PORTRAITS OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS AT WORK: Lea Thau". The Rumpus.net. 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
10. ^ "Winner 2010: The Moth, Public Radio Exchange, Atlantic Public Media". Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
11. ^ "The Feministing Five: Lea Thau". 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
12. ^ "Lea Thau". KCRW. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
13. ^ "Radiotopia: Plug in to this new podcast network". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
14. ^ Taylor, Maggie (2017-11-21). "Changes for Radiotopia and Strangers". @PRX. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
15. ^ Haglund, David; Onion, Rebecca (2014-12-14). "The 25 Best Podcast Episodes Ever". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
16. ^ "15 Podcasts to Add to Your Permanent Playlist - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. 2014-11-18. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
17. ^ Radio, Southern California Public (2015-04-07). "'Strangers' wins the 2015 KPCC Public Radio Bracket Madness!". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 2017-05-02.