The Lead Podcast
The Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership at the Grady College prepares students and professionals for leadership roles in the news media. The Lead Podcast, now on hiatus, captures these conversations to share.
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The Lead: UGA’s Moni Basu On the Power of Storytelling
In her 40 years as a reporter, Moni Basu has learned how to tell a good story. She’s covered presidential elections, natural disasters and the human stories of the war in Iraq. Today, she tells me how she discovered the power of a good narrative and how she earned the…
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The Lead: NPR’s Joe Shapiro on Covering Disability Rights, Finding Voices for Radio
In his more than 20 years at NPR, Joe Shapiro has written stories on everything from health to rising court fees to solitary confinement. He’s spent most of his career writing stories about disability, starting when editors wouldn’t even publish his work because they didn’t think it was relevant. In…
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The Lead: NPR’s Elissa Nadworny on Reporting Internationally
Elissa Nadworny likes to cover higher education because she sees it as a gateway to stories about everything, from housing to transportation to parenting to politics. But that’s not her only interest — she’s been covering the war in Ukraine from the ground and has traveled to Jordan to report…
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The Lead: B. “Toastie” Oaster on Telling Native Stories
Toastie Oaster’s first-ever feature made them a finalist in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. Now a staff writer on the Indigenous affairs desk at High Country News, Toastie focuses on stories that highlight social and environmental justice for Native nations and the consequences of colonialism in the West. In this…
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The Lead: The Houston Chronicle’s Brady Stone on Reaching Readers
Stories don’t always make their way from reporters to readers on their own. Sometimes they need help — that’s where audience engagement journalists come in. On this week’s episode of The Lead, Brady Stone, an audience producer at the Houston Chronicle, breaks down why reaching readers quickly and accurately matters.…
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The Lead: Ryan Prior on Uncovering Stories About Health and Disability
Ryan Prior has been interested in telling stories about health, science and disability since high school. Now, he does that as a journalist — and has added documentary filmmaker and published author to his résumé. He also found time to consult with the federal government about long COVID and create…
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The Lead: UGA’s Denetra Walker on Creating Change Through Social Justice Journalism
It’s Denetra Walker’s second semester teaching at the University of Georgia, and she’s just getting started. After a multitude of experiences in the broadcast journalism field, she’s teaching social justice journalism and journalism ethics, all while providing mentorship and representation for students in the classroom. In this episode, we chat…
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The Lead: Atlanta Magazine’s Kamille Whittaker on Recording Black History
Kamille Whittaker’s career is intimately intertwined with the Black Press, starting with her time as an intern. Since then, she’s worn many different hats and is now a managing editor at Atlanta Magazine, where she puts together a product that truly tells the stories of the city. In this episode,…
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The Lead: Grist’s Lylla Younes on Environmental Storytelling
Lylla Younes’ work has had an impact. Her work mapping cancer-causing industrial pollution in Louisiana for ProPublica helped lead to a plastic manufacturer’s permit to be suspended. She’s written about oil spills, hazardous waste and a tanker off the coast of Yemen that’s poised to cause an environmental disaster. She’s…
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The Lead: The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Erin Schilling on the Joy of Editing
It’s only been a couple of years since Erin Schilling graduated from the University of Georgia, but she’s already a digital editor at the Atlanta Business Chronicle. In this episode, we chat about the skills that got her there, what she likes about business reporting and one of her favorite…