Bio : Amy Westervelt / Critical Frequency

ABOUT AMY WESTERVELT

Amy Westervelt is the founder of the Critical Frequency podcast network, and an award-winning print and audio journalist. She contributes to The Washington Post, The Nation, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as KQED, The California Report, Capital Public Radio, and many other outlets. In 2007, she won a Folio for her feature on the potential of algae as a feedstock for biofuel. In 2015 she was awarded a Rachel Carson award for "women greening journalism", in 2016 she won an Edward R. Murrow award for her series on the impacts of the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, and in 2019 she won the Online News Association award for “Excellence in Audio Storytelling”. As the head of Critical Frequency, she has executive produced more than a dozen podcasts, including projects with Stitcher’s Witness Docs and Crooked Media. Her book Forget Having It All: How America Messed Up Motherhood, and How to Fix It was published in November 2018 by Seal Press.

Fast Facts about Amy:

- Amy hosts Drilled, the most-listened-to climate change podcast and one of the first podcasts to report on climate change. Its sixth season, exploring the rise of the natural gas industry, began July 16 2021.

- Amy has won the 2021 Covering Climate Now's Audio/Radio Award, the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Award for "Best Green Podcast” and the 2019 Online News Association award for “Excellence in Audio Storytelling" for Drilled. In addition, Westervelt won an Edward R. Murrow award in 2016 and a Rachel Carson award for "women greening journalism" in 2015.

- Early this fall, she will launch Rigged, a new web project and companion podcast focused on the history and functionality of disinformation

- Later in the year, she will launch the new podcast Damages, a legal drama focused on climate lawsuits

- Amy runs the women-run podcast network Critical Frequency, where she has executive produced more than a dozen podcasts, almost all hosted by women or people of color

- Critical Frequency lends its skills to other podcasts. Amy currently services as Managing Producer for the upcoming second season of Crooked Media's podcast 'This Land', where she leads a reporting team. She also works on the Stitcher podcast 'Unfinished'.

- Amy is an advocate for working mothers. Her book 'Forget Having It All: How America Messed Up Motherhood, and How to Fix It' was published in 2018. She co-hosts the podcast 'Labor' with NPR's Elise Hu, about the social science behind issues facing working families today.