Alex Crevar moved to the Balkans in the 1990s and has been reporting from there ever since. His vivid and insightful travel stories are published in outlets including The New York Times, National Geographic and Lonely Planet, but his focus isn’t on filling a résumé — it’s about traveling genuinely and responsibly. In this episode, Alex recalls how he fell into travel writing and why he’s been doing it for more than 30 years. As a cyclist and hiker, his hobbies also inform his adventure journalism, and he talks about his role in creating the Via Dinarica hiking trail and Trans Dinarica cycle ro ..read more

Alexandra Travis works to tell stories that have gone uncovered. As a documentary producer at Scripps News, she creates long-form, in-depth video journalism focusing especially on the experiences of Black people in the South. In this episode, Alexandra talks about what it feels like when she realizes there’s a story she can tell using video, why focusing on Black stories is important to her and how her documentaries connect with audiences. You can watch her award-winning documentary “Ropes in Brown Hands,” which is about an Oklahoma town that’s home to one of the nation’s oldest Black rodeos ..read more

Dodie Cantrell-Bickley was taught the importance of a free press from her mother, who grew up in Nazi Germany and saw how crucial journalism was. Dodie pursued that passion for more than 30 years as a broadcast reporter and president of multiple news stations. She was a leader during the pivot to digital and the advent of the internet, and she’s always looking forward to what’s next. In this episode, we talk about leading through change, encouraging innovation and staying powerfully optimistic about the future of journalism.  Guest: Dodie Cantrell-Bickley, senior lecturer in journalism at ..read more

Savannah Sicurella and Tyler Wilkins are making careers in business journalism soon after graduating college and entering the job market. In this episode, they debrief about what drew them to reporting on commercial real estate and development, and how they managed to navigate the learning curve that comes with starting a new role — especially a business-focused one. Check out Savannah’s reporting here and Tyler’s reporting here. Guests: Savannah Sicurella and Tyler Wilkins, staff reporters at the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Host: Jacqueline GaNun ..read more

Margaret Coker has covered stories from 32 countries on four continents, working for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other outlets. In 2020, she returned home to Savannah, Georgia, to found The Current, a nonprofit news source dedicated to filling the vacuum of high-quality investigative news on the coast. In this episode, we chat about her international reporting, founding a news start-up and why nonprofit news is increasingly important. Check out Margaret’s book, “The Spymaster of Baghdad,” here. You can read some of her reporting in The Current about the murder of Ahmaud Arb ..read more

In this episode, the third of five parts, Nick Chiles, the industry writing coach for the college of journalism at the University of Georgia, sits down with executive producer Charlotte Norsworthy to discuss the importance of the lead and how to make it engaging ..read more

In this episode, New York Times national politics reporter Astead Herndon shares insights on reporting on the 2020 presidential election. Astead also discusses the different roles of journalism and why we should get out of the college bubble to better understand communities and develop as journalists ..read more

In this episode, CNN Health reporter Jacquline Howard shares her experience covering the Covid-19 pandemic. Jacquline discusses the challenges of analyzing scientific data, tracking medical studies and battling misinformation, and she also talks about the importance of clear communication and shares where she finds her silver linings ..read more

In this episode, Charlotte Norsworthy talks to Grady grad Tanya Sichynsky, a newsletter editor at The Washington Post and the author of Meal Plan of Action, a 12-week email series that helps readers plan, prep and cook more efficiently. In this episode we discuss the importance of culture journalism and how food news can bring people together. This episode also marks the final episode of Season 8 and the final episode of Norsworthy as host ..read more

Misinformation. Deepfakes. Scams. None of these are going away, and we need tools to figure out what’s true. This special episode of The Lead brings you into the What the Hackathon at the University of Georgia, where students learned in real-time how to navigate our disordered information ecosystem to produce and consume news responsibly. It also features an interview with Adam Levin, a sponsor of the Hackathon and host of the What the Hack podcast, a no-shame zone for anyone who’s ever been scammed, hacked, phished or cyber-bushwhacked. Adam and I talk about how it’s more important than ever ..read more