Quick Facts
Biography
Lea Thau (born 1971) is a Peabody Award-winning producer and director. She is the producer and host of the podcast Strangers and the former Executive and Creative Director of The Moth.
Biography
Originally from Aarhus, Denmark, Lea came to the United States at the age of 23 as a visiting scholar to study literature at Columbia University.
While living in New York as a graduate student, Lea discovered the then-fledgling live storytelling show The Moth. She began working for the organization in 2000 as a part-time employee doing outreach. In March 2001, she became the Executive and Creative Director, a position she held for a decade before departing in April 2010. While in that position, she created the short-form Moth Podcast in 2008 and The Moth Radio Hour in 2009 with a broadcast launch to more than 70 public radio station. During her tenure at The Moth, the show earned many accolades, including a Peabody Award.
In 2011, Lea Thau created the podcast Strangers, which she describes as "stories about people we meet, the connections we make, the heartbreaks we suffer, the kindness we encounter, and the frightful moments when we discover we aren't even who we thought we were". It is produced with the support of KCRW's Independent Producer Project. In 2014, Strangers partnered with Radiotopia, a podcast network run by the Public Radio Exchange. She has been described as "one of the strongest influencers of the modern storytelling style that has taken off in radio, television, advertising, and, of course, podcasting". Strangers has exceeded ten million downloads, and averages "about 500,000 downloads per month". It has grown to where "she pays her salary and the salary of two full-time employees with health benefits".
She does not have a "traditional radio voice" but "many of Thau's listeners find her speaking voice ideal for the medium".
Lea lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Awards & Honors
- In 2014, Slate included Strangers episode on its year-end "25 Best Podcast Episodes Ever" list.
- In 2014, Los Angeles named Strangers one of its "15 Podcasts to Add to Your Permanent Playlist"
- In 2015, Strangers won the Public Radio March Madness Bracket Contest, beating out shows such as This American Life and Radiolab.