Guy Raz

Guy Raz

Host, TED Radio Hour

Guy Raz is the host of TED Radio Hour, a co-production of NPR and TED that tackles astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems and new ways to think and create. Each radio show is based on talks given by riveting speakers on the renowned TED stage, bound together by a common theme such as the thrill of space exploration, going to extremes, the source of happiness or 'when rights goes wrong' in our justice system. Currently, he is also Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University where he teaches radio reporting.

Previously, Raz was weekend host of NPR News' signature afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered. Raz was named host of that program in July, 2009. During his tenure, Raz transformed the sound and format of the program, introducing the now-signature "cover story" and creating the popular Three-Minute Fiction writing contest.

Raz joined NPR in 1997 as an intern for All Things Considered and he worked his way through the ranks of the organization. His first job was the assistant to NPR's legendary news analyst Daniel Schorr. Raz then served as a general assignment reporter covering stories ranging from the early 2000 presidential primaries to a profile on the Doors' song “Light My Fire.”

In 2000, at the age of 25, Raz was made NPR's Berlin bureau chief where he covered eastern Europe and the Balkans. Later, he was transferred to London as the bureau chief and covered the war in Iraq. Raz left NPR in 2004, to work as CNN's Jerusalem correspondent, chronicling 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. Two years later Raz returned to NPR to serve as defense correspondent where he covered the Pentagon and the US military.

During his six years abroad, Raz reported from more than 40 countries, with a focus on Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. He profiled and interviewed dozens of world leaders, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres, General David Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen.

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. For his reporting from Germany, Raz was awarded both the RIAS Berlin prize and the Arthur F. Burns Award. In 2008, he spent a year as a Nieman journalism fellow at Harvard University where he studied classical history.

Raz's written work has appeared in Salon, Washington City Paper, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor and the German daily, Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Photo: Kainaz Amaria

Guy Raz on KCRW

It's hard to accept that everyone eventually dies. How can we better understand death as a part of life? TED speakers contemplate the end of life with wisdom and humor.

Rethinking Death

It's hard to accept that everyone eventually dies. How can we better understand death as a part of life? TED speakers contemplate the end of life with wisdom and humor.

from TED Radio Hour

Sinful behavior is human, and nearly impossible to avoid.

7 Deadly Sins

Sinful behavior is human, and nearly impossible to avoid.

from TED Radio Hour

What does it mean to be courageous? Is it an automatic response or a conscious choice?

Courage

What does it mean to be courageous? Is it an automatic response or a conscious choice?

from TED Radio Hour

More from KCRW

Should I prioritize planting drought-tolerant or native plants?

from The Anti-Dread Climate Podcast

Sous chef Kamran Gill discusses the challenges he faces while fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

from Good Food

This week, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Indigenous ecologist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass speaks about the virtues of moss and how one of the smallest and humblest plants on the planet…

from Life Examined

Please join us in celebration of the Extraordinary Life of Ruth Seymour (aka Ruth Hirschman)

from Special Programming

The latest film releases are Dune: Part 2, Spaceman, Shayda, and Problemista. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, film critic for NY Magazine and Vulture, and Tim Grierson, Senior U.S.

from Weekend Film Reviews

“Oppenheimer” dominated the Academy Awards with seven wins, and “Barbie” earned one Oscar. But the possibility of another Hollywood strike hovered over the night.

from KCRW Features

On this episode of Scheer Intelligence, David Greene, the Civil Liberties Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, joins host Robert Scheer to discuss the new bill that would…

from Scheer Intelligence

This week, Yale professor of psychology Paul Bloom offers another perspective on retirement.

from Life Examined

Two apple pie categories this year?! Yes, there are. We've made other (tasty) changes, too. It all goes down Sunday, April 28 at UCLA.

from Good Food