The Rough Draft

Hannah Williams is the creator and host of Salary Transparent Street , a social media interview series that asks people to share their job title and salary. In this episode, Hannah talks about her passion for salary transparency, learning to be a content creator,  and some of the free tools she’s created to help more people understand how much they could and should be making.  Guest Bio...

Hannah Williams is the creator and host of Salary Transparent Street , a social media interview series that asks people to share their job title and salary. After interviewing hundreds of people about their salaries, she created a slew of free resources (including a salary database and guides on doing market research) to create even more salary transparency.  Guest Bio Hannah Williams is a 27...

Hannah Williams is the creator and host of Salary Transparent Street , a social media interview series that asks people to share their job title and salary. In this episode, Hannah shares the tools she uses to create content and how she navigates the constantly changing algorithms of the social media platforms she posts on.  Guest Bio Hannah Williams is a 27-year-old content creator and forme...

Hannah Williams is the creator and host of Salary Transparent Street , a social media interview series that asks people to share their job title and salary. In this episode, Hannah shares the origin story of the channel and how its led to her creating more salary transparency tools and testifying for salary transparency laws.  Guest Bio Hannah Williams is a 27-year-old content creator and for...

Episode Summary Matt Stillo is an audio producer, engineer and sound designer. In this episode he talks about his path from NYU arts student to podcast production, how AI is changing the audio industry, and why he wanted to focus on detailed sound design when he created his own podcast, No F*cking Way .   Guest Bio Matt Stillo is a story-oriented editor, sound designer, engineer, and aud...

Episode Summary In this episode, iHeart Radio producer Matt Stillo talks about making his podcast No F*cking Way , where he and his co-creator James Foster shared insane stories from real people. They spent a lot of time sound designing each episode to turn these stories into dramatic, cinematic podcast episodes. Guest Bio Matt Stillo is a story-oriented editor, sound designer, engineer, and audio...

Episode Summary In this episode, iHeart Radio producer Matt Stillo talks about how AI tools are changing the world of podcasts (the good and the bad) and other tools he uses as an audio engineer, producer and sound designer.  Guest Bio Matt Stillo is a story-oriented editor, sound designer, engineer, and audio producer based in Brooklyn. He currently produces podcasts for Ruby , iHeart Radio’...

Episode Summary Matt Stillo is an audio producer and engineer and producer for Ruby , iHeart Radio’s creative studio for brands. In this episode, Matt talks about his journey from an NYU arts student to discovering his love of audio and sound design.  Guest Bio Matt Stillo is a story-oriented editor, sound designer, engineer, and audio producer based in Brooklyn. He currently produces podcast...

Episode Summary In this episode, host Kendell Kelton interviews Peter Balonon-Rosen, a producer for Vox's daily news podcast "Today Explained." Peter discusses his journey from public access TV to audio journalism, his transition from reporting to producing, and his passion for crafting sound-rich stories by utilizing transformative music & immersive sound design. Guest Bio Peter Balonon-Rosen...

Episode Summary In this episode, Peter Balonon-Rosen discusses producing "What Dad Left Behind" , an episode for the podcast "This Is Uncomfortable." The episode is a deeply personal story about his friend Dean's experience with an  inheritance after his father's death. Peter shares his approach to balancing journalistic integrity with personal relationships, and how this experience shaped hi...

Episode Summary In this episode of The Rough Draft, Vox producer Peter Balonon-Rosen shares insights into his creative process as an audio producer. He describes his approach to story selection, sourcing stories, and he reflects on how COVID-19 transformed podcast production. Guest Bio Peter Balonon-Rosen is a producer for Vox's daily news podcast and radio show Today, Explained where he's drawn t...

Episode Summary In this episode, host Kendall Kelton interviews Peter Balonon-Rosen, a producer for Vox's daily news podcast "Today Explained." Peter discusses his journey from public access TV to audio journalism, his transition from reporting to producing, and his passion for creating sound rich stories that use music and sound effects.  Guest Bio Peter Balonon-Rosen is a producer for Vox's...

Episode Summary Josh Olenslager is the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning. In this episode, he talks about leading a team that helps educate professionals and how he balances his personal creative projects with a corporate job. Guest Bio Josh Olenslager is the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, a platform that offers video courses to help professionals lear...

Episode Summary Josh Olenslager, the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, talks about the creative projects he works on in his free time and how those projects are crucial to his creativity.  Guest Bio Josh Olenslager is the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, a platform that offers video courses to help professionals learn new skills. Outside of his job...

Episode Summary Josh Olenslager, the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, talks about how he makes time for his creative pursuits while also working a full-time corporate job. Guest Bio Josh Olenslager is the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, a platform that offers video courses to help professionals learn new skills. Outside of his job, his creative pursui...

Episode Summary In this episode, Josh Olenslager, the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, talks about his role and how his team is trying to meet the demand from its audience to learn more about AI. Guest Bio Josh Olenslager is the Director of Publishing Operations at LinkedIn Learning, a platform that offers video courses to help professionals learn new skills. Outside of his...

Episode Summary Casey Miner started her career as a reporter for the NPR station in San Francisco. She eventually started working in podcasts and now works on the team that makes Throughline from NPR .  In this episode, Casey talks about getting into audio, the state of the podcast industry and the process of making her favorite episode of Throughline , A Tale of Two Tribal Nations .  Gu...

Episode Summary Casey Miner started her career as a reporter for the NPR station in San Francisco. She eventually started working in podcasts and now works on the team that makes Throughline from NPR .  In this episode, Casey talks about the process of making an episode of Throughline , A Tale of Two Tribal Nations . The episode is about the history and reality of Native tribes owning their r...

Episode Summary Casey Miner started her career as a reporter for the NPR station in San Francisco. She eventually started working in podcasts and now works on the team that makes Throughline from NPR .  In this episode, Casey talks about the team effort it takes to bring an episode of Throughline to air, and what her role as an editor looks like. Guest Bio Casey Miner is an award-winning narr...

Episode Summary Casey Miner started her career as a reporter for the NPR station in San Francisco. She eventually started working in podcasts and now works on the team that makes Throughline from NPR .  In this episode, Casey talks about her career as an audio producer and editor, and the current struggles in the podcasting industry.  Guest Bio Casey Miner is an award-winning narrative e...

Episode Summary Alain Stephens started his career in the military and later as a police officer in North Texas. But then he found himself in the world of journalism and realized this was the perfect avenue for his investigative skills.  In this episode Alain talks about his path to journalism, the challenges of being an investigative reporter in the current media landscape, and tells us about...

Episode Summary Investigative reporter Alain Stephens shares the process of reporting out one of his most impactful investigations: the discovery that 52,000 former police guns were sold to the public and later used in crimes.  This investigation resulted in multiple stories including an episode of Reveal and a collaboration with CBS News .  Guest Bio Alain Stephens is a staff writer at...

Episode Summary Investigative reporter Alain Stephens spends years trying to get the right data for a story. This kind of reporting takes patience, problem solving and time - something the 24-hour news cycle is not always willing to give.  Guest Bio Alain Stephens is a staff writer at The Trace covering developments in firearms technology and the ATF. His investigations into auto sears, toy g...

Episode Summary Investigative reporter Alain Stephens started his career in the military and later as a police officer in North Texas. But then he found himself in the world of journalism and realized this was the perfect avenue for his investigative skills. In this episode Alain talks about his path to journalism and why his background makes him a great reporter.  Guest Bio Alain Stephens is...

Episode Summary Daniel Parris is creator of the Stat Significant newsletter , where each week he uses data analytics to answer pop culture questions. In this episode he talks about creating his newsletter, the tools he uses to compile data sets and write essays, and a behind the scenes look at how he created one of his most popular essays: ‘ Why Do People Hate Nickelback So Much? A Statistical Ana...