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 ''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 ...

'', and the host and executive producer of the podcast '' Serial''.

Early life

Koenig was born July 1969 in New York City to Julian Koenig and his second wife, Maria Eckhart. Sarah is Jewish. Her father was a well-known copywriter. Her mother is from Tanzania. After her parents' divorce, Sarah's mother married writer

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he is the only writer to have won the Nat ...

. Koenig attended

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA) is a coeducational, Independent school, independent University-preparatory school, college-preparatory school for boarding and day students in Concord, Massachusetts. CA educates approximately 400 students in ...

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

. Koenig graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science. She attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

for a postgraduate degree in Russian history, but she left after two weeks.

Career

After graduating from college Koenig began working as a reporter at ''The East Hampton Star''. Then she worked in Russia as a reporter for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

and later for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. She covered the State House (politics) for the ''

Concord Monitor The ''Concord Monitor'' is the daily newspaper for Concord, the state capital of New Hampshire. It also covers surrounding towns in Merrimack County, most of Belknap County, as well as portions of Grafton, Rockingham and Hillsborough count ...

'' and later for the ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

''. She began working as a producer for ''This American Life'' in January 2004. She co-produced the 2006

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

-winning episode of ''This American Life'' titled "Habeas Schmabeas." In 2013, she began work on a spinoff podcast of the ''This American Life'' radio program titled ''Serial'', which debuted in October 2014 with a first season initially consisting of twelve episodes. ''Serial'' was honored with a

Peabody award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

in April 2015, noting that it took

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

ing into the cultural mainstream.

Recognition and honors

''TIME'' magazine named Koenig one of "The 100 Most Influential People" on April 16, 2015. Also in 2015, she was named as one of '' The Forward 50''.

Personal life

Koenig lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Ben Schreier, an associate professor of

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...

and English at Penn State, and their two children.

In popular culture

In the fortieth season of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', Koenig was portrayed by

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's histor ...

in a segment titled "Serial: The Christmas Surprise", a parody of her investigative podcast '' Serial''. Also in 2014, Koenig was portrayed by

Michaela Watkins Michaela Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. After several years performing with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Watkins achieved widespread attention for her brief stint as a featured player on th ...

struggling to solve the murder of Hae Min Lee in time for the first season finale of ''Serial'' in a digital skit for

Funny or Die Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staf ...

. In 2015, Koenig played herself in the second season episode of ''

BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated tragicomedy television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, and Aaron Paul. Set primarily in ...

'', " Out to Sea", voicing Diane Nguyen's ringtone with a parody of her ''Serial'' introduction. This came a season after podcaster

Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series '' This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ...

held the same to-be-recurring role. In Hulu's ''

Only Murders in the Building , creator = Steve Martin & John Hoffman , starring = {{Plainlist, * Steve Martin * Martin Short * Selena Gomez * Aaron Dominguez * Amy Ryan * Cara Delevingne * Adina Verson * Michael Cyril Creighton , music ...

'', the podcast ''All Is Not OK in Oklahoma'' and character Cinda Canning played by

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

were inspired by Sarah Koenig and her podcast ''Serial''. Koenig was animated in the second episode of the twenty-second season of

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

, "Supermarket Pete", as a podcaster trying to solve a murder case and get credit for it.

References

External links

NiemanStoryboard interview
(transcript)
The ''Serial'' Podcast Ending Is TBD
(listen)
Behind the Scenes at ''Serial''
' ''(listen) {{DEFAULTSORT:Koenig, Sarah 1969 births Living people Jewish American journalists American women journalists American radio personalities This American Life people The Baltimore Sun people Peabody Award winners American women podcasters American crime podcasters University of Chicago alumni People from State College, Pennsylvania Concord Academy alumni Koenig family 21st-century American Jews