Award-Winning Reporter, Radio & Podcast Host and Creator
Guy Raz is an independent producer who has been described by the New York Times as "one of the most popular podcasters in history."
He's the founder and CEO of Built-It Productions and the creator and the creative force behind How I Built This. He's also the former host and co-creator of TED Radio Hour.
Guy is also the co-founder of Tinkercast, a children's media company that produces audio podcasts and educational content for kids. Guy co-created and hosts one of those programs, Wow in the World—the number one kids podcast in English.
He's also the creator/host of Wisdom from the Top, a podcast about leadership and The Rewind on Spotify, a program about music.
Together, Guy's 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, Bill Gates, 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.
Raz began his career at NPR in 1997 as an intern for All Things Considered and worked virtually every job in the newsroom—from temporary production assistant to breaking news anchor. His first job was the assistant to NPR’s legendary news analyst Daniel Schorr.
In 2000, at the age of 25, Raz was appointed as NPR’s Berlin bureau chief, where he covered Eastern Europe and the Balkans. During his six years abroad, Raz reported on everything from wars and conflicts to sports and entertainment. He reported from more than 50 countries, covering the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Macedonia, and the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Following a year-long sabbatical as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University, Raz became the weekend host of NPR News’ signature afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered. During his tenure, he transformed the sound and format of the program, introducing the now-signature “cover story” and creating the popular “Three-Minute Fiction” writing contest. During this time, Raz 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.
In 2013, Raz left the news-world to become the co-creator of TED Radio Hour. By exploring the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world's greatest thinkers, TED Radio Hour quickly became a staple in NPR’s array of podcasts and iTunes called it the “Best New Audio Podcast."
In 2015, Raz created How I Built This. Each episode is a narrative journey marked by triumphs, failures, serendipity, and resilience — told by the founders of some of the world’s best-known companies and brands. The success of the show has prompted The New York Times to call Raz “the biggest name in business podcasts.”
In 2016, Raz and his co-host, Mindy Thomas, founded their children’s production company, Tinkercast, and launched NPR's first-ever podcast for kids, Wow In The World, which quickly became a top children’s podcast and is a two-time Parent’s Choice Gold Award winner. In 2018, Raz debuted the Spotify original series The Rewind, which takes listeners inside the minds of today’s biggest music stars, including David Guetta, Kelly Clarkson, and Shawn Mendes. In 2019, Raz launched a new podcast on the Luminary podcast network platform—Wisdom From The Top—which is a biographical journey into the lives and minds of the greatest business managers and leaders in the world.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Raz began the How I Built This Resilience series: twice-weekly live video interviews with founders to discuss how the pandemic has affected their business models and philosophies as leaders. He also co-created a new daily kids podcast, Two Whats and a Wow.
Over the course of his career as a correspondent and subsequently a host, Raz has interviewed and profiled more than 6,000 people from all walks of life, including Richard Branson, Sara Blakely, Howard Schultz, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth, Marissa Meyer, Melinda Gates, Christopher Hitchens, Condoleezza Rice, Jimmy Carter, Shimon Peres, General David Petraeus, Al Gore, Mark Zuckerberg, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and many, many others. Raz has also been on the other side of the microphone as a frequent guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and he has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Inc., The Today Show, and Forbes.
Raz has been awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award, National Headliner Award, NABJ award, and the Daniel Schorr Journalism prize; his reporting has contributed to two duPont awards and one Peabody awarded to NPR; and he has been a finalist for the Livingston Award four times. He has 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.
Most importantly, Raz is a father. He’s taught preschoolers how to conduct radio interviews, performed in children’s theater as the narrator in Cat in the Hat, helped design the local playground in his neighborhood, and coached and cheered on his sons’ baseball and soccer teams.
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