Nerdette Creators & Guests

Leila Fadel is a Lebanese American journalist who was the Cairo bureau chief for National Public Radio.

Greta Johnsen is a weekend anchor of WEBZ and co-host of Nerdette Podcast.

Tricia Bobeda is a producer at WBEZ and host of Nerdette Podcast.

Olga Khazan is a journalist who reports on health, gender, and science. She is currently a staff writer for The Atlantic.Prior to becoming a staff writer, Khazan was The Atlantic’s Global editor. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Forbes, and other publications. She is a two-time recipient of the International Reporting Project’s Journalism Fellowship and winner of the 2017 National Headliner Awards for Magazine Online Writing.Khazan's first book, "Weird," is to be published in 2020.Khazan was raised in West Texas. She received her B.A. in political science from American University, and her M.A. in journalism from the University of Southern California. She began reporting at The Eagle newspaper at American.

Shannon Downey is a crafter and activist.

Leigh Bardugo is an author.

Araceli Gómez Aldana is a news producer and reporter at WBEZ.

Jazmin Aguilera is a producer and co-host of The Cut podcast.

Susie An is an education reporter at WBEZ.

Sam Sanders is a journalist and audio presenter. Currently, he hosts the Vulture pop culture podcast "Into It" and the Stitcher podcast "Vibe Check." He also teaches Radio at the Columbia University School of Journalism.Previously, Sanders was the host of the NPR show "It's Been A Minute." He started his journalism career as a web producer for the Washington Post.Sanders received his B.A. in Music Composition and Political Science from the University of the Incarnate Word and his M.P.P. in Public Policy, Media, and Politics from Harvard Kennedy School.

Marcela Valdes is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine.

Kate Schatz is a feminist writer, activist, educator, and creator of the Rad Women book series.

Maura F. Currie is a freelance audio producer and engineer, journalist, writer, and researcher.Previously, Currie produced podcasts for Newsweek, including "Declassified with Naveed Jamali," "The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott," and "The Royal Report." She was a reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, WAMU 88.5, and The PBS NewsHour.Currie received her B.S. in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Gabrielle "Gaby" Teresa Dunn is an American writer, actor, journalist, comedian, activist, and podcaster. She started a podcast with the intent of exposing and analyzing money problems that most people face, yet no one talks about. The podcast was called Bad with Money with Gaby Dunn and is part of the Panoply podcast network.

Megan Ganz is a comedy writer and former associate editor of The Onion. She is a writer and executive producer on the FXX series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She previously wrote for the NBC series Community for three years from 2010 to 2013, and left to write for Modern Family from 2013 to 2015. She also wrote for the Fox comedy series The Last Man on Earth, and co-created the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest alongside Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day.

Hank Green is an entrepreneur, musician, educator, producer, vlogger, and author.

Kelly McEvers is the host of Embedded and NPR's podcast.

David John Franco is an American actor and director.

Danielle Kurtzleben is a political reporter assigned to NPR's Washington Desk.