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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."

Raz is the founder and CEO of Built-It Productions and the creator, host and the creative force behind How I Built This and Wisdom from the Top. He's also the former host and co-creator of TED Radio Hour.

He's also the creator/host of Wow in the World (from his children's media company Tinkercast) and The Rewind on Spotify, a program about music.

Together, his 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, 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.

  • In the field of bio-tech, it can take 10 years and millions of dollars to see if an experimental idea might turn into a life-saving treatment—if it ever does. Noubar Afeyan fully understood those risks when he co-founded Moderna in 2010. He and his colleagues were looking for a way to deploy the messenger RNA molecule to tackle life-threatening diseases. In January of 2020, an urgent opportunity presented itself in the form of a deadly virus that was spreading across the globe. At a breathtaking pace, Moderna produced a prototype for a COVID-19 vaccine, partnered with the NIH to test it, and produced millions of doses, becoming part of the most rapid vaccine roll-out in human history. While Moderna is the best known of Noubar's companies, he has launched many others in the bio-tech space as part of Flagship Pioneering, his multi-billion dollar venture studio.
  • Jamaican Usain Bolt won his second straight Olympic gold in the men's 100 meters Sunday with a time of 9.63 seconds, an Olympic record. Bolt's training partner, Yohan Blake, a fellow Jamaican, finished second.
  • For decades, coal represented half of the nation's electricity generation, but it dropped to only 34 percent in March. Technological breakthroughs in fracking have led to a gas boom that's caused prices to plummet, and now hundreds of coal miners are being laid off as the nation shifts away from the oldest and most plentiful source of electricity in the U.S.
  • For decades, coal represented half of the nation's electricity generation, but it dropped to only 34 percent for the month of March. While the decline is partially due to a warmer winter and stricter environmental regulations, the real culprit may be natural gas. Technological breakthroughs in fracking have led to a gas boom that's caused prices to plummet. As a result, power plants are switching from coal to natural gas and mines in Appalachia are shutting down.
  • If public perceptions and pundits are to be believed, black churches are overwhelmingly against same-sex marriage. Except, it's not true.
  • A string of attacks across Afghanistan Sunday mark the beginning of the spring fighting season. In at least six separate attacks across four provinces, the insurgents hit Afghan and Western targets, and Afghan government buildings with a combination of rockets and suicide bombers.
  • Mass disqualifications have thrown Egypt's upcoming elections into turmoil. In a surprise move, Egypt's election commission barred 10 of the 23 registered presidential candidates from next month's election.
  • A line of strong storms moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area Tuesday with a number of tornadoes touching down. Homes and businesses were damaged across the region but there were no fatalities. As a massive storm approached Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, staff told travelers to seek shelter close to the center of the terminal buildings.
  • U.S. officials say an American Army soldier may have shot at least 15 Afghans before dawn on Sunday in southern Afghanistan. NATO has detained the accused service member.
  • Landowners in Nebraska were offered large sums of money to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to cross their land on its way from Canada to the Gulf Coast. For some, the proposed pipeline symbolized new jobs and energy independence, but others saw it as environmentally dangerous.