Emmanuel Dzotsi (born in 1993) is an English American radio journalist. He was a co-host of the podcasts ''Serial'' and ''Reply All''.

Early life and education

Dzotsi was born in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His parents' families immigrated to the United Kingdom from

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

and

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. His family moved several times because of his father's work, and he lived in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

before emigrating to the United States, where they settled in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

in 2005. He attended

The Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and strategic communications. In college, Dzotsi produced a feature-length film, played

mellophone The mellophone is a brass instrument used in marching bands and drum and bugle corps in place of French horns. It is a middle-voiced instrument, typically pitched in the key of F, though models in E, D, C, and G (as a bugle) have also historica ...

in the Ohio State University Marching Band and delivered a

TEDx Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

about storytelling. He graduated in 2015.

Career

Dzotsi moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

after graduating from Ohio State, interning for

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the tri-state region of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Chicago Public Media and is f ...

before becoming a fellow at ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

''. In 2018, he hosted the third season of ''Serial'' alongside

Sarah Koenig Sarah Koenig (; born July 9, 1969, in New York City) is an American journalist, public radio personality, former producer of the television and radio program ''This American Life'', and the host and executive producer of the podcast '' Serial''. ...

. Unlike previous seasons, which focused on single cases, it told multiple people's stories as told from the

Justice Center The Justice Center is a 1,100-seat multi-purpose arena in Asheville, North Carolina built in 1963. The arena was named in 1973 for Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice, a native of Asheville and former NFL halfback. It is home to the University of Nort ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, where Dzotsi lived for eight months to report the series. In October 2020, Dzotsi became a co-host of ''Reply All'' alongside Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt. The show went on hiatus in February 2021 after controversy erupted over "The Test Kitchen," a limited series about the workplace culture at ''

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center ...

'', as well as wider issues around

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC was a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who served as the company's ...

's acquisition by

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. Vogt resigned shortly afterward. In a June 2021 episode relaunching ''Reply All'', Dzotsi commented that "we don't know if it's going to work." In June 2022, Dzotsi and Goldman left ''Reply All'', coinciding with the end of the show. Dzotsi has continued to contribute to ''This American Life.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzotsi, Emmanuel This American Life people American radio journalists British radio journalists English podcasters 1990s births Living people Year of birth uncertain