Alexandra "Alex" Cohen (born July 8, 1972) is an American radio and Emmy Award winning television journalist,

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (jam ...

skater, and author.

Early life

Cohen was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and moved to California at the age of two. She studied at

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. In ...

in Michigan,

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

(

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Eastern Religions, 1993), and

University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is a graduate professional school on the campus of University of California, Berkeley. It is among the top graduate journalism schools in the United States, and is designed to produce journalists wi ...

(Master of Journalism). Cohen is the daughter of

Kip Cohen Kip Cohen is an American entertainment and record company executive who once held positions at the Fillmore East, Columbia Records and the Herb Alpert Foundation. Career In 1964 Cohen was the theater production manager for ''The Committee'' and ''T ...

, a former American arts and entertainment executive, concert presenter, record company executive and God-daughter of American rock concert promoter Bill Graham. Her brother is musician

Chris Cohen Christopher David Cohen (born 5 March 1987) is an English former professional footballer and is currently assistant manager at Southampton. Primarily a midfielder, he was able to operate equally in the centre or on the left, but was also emplo ...

Career

Cohen began her radio career at

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

in Washington, D.C. as producer and director for ''Weekly Edition'' and ''Weekend All Things Considered''. From 2000 to 2003, Cohen worked for San Francisco's KQED first as a producer for the statewide radio program ''California Report'' and later as the Los Angeles bureau chief for the same program. Cohen has also reported for

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...

's financial news program ''

Marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

'' and served as host of the weekly APM program ''

Weekend America ''Weekend America'' was a weekly public radio program dealing with news, popular culture, the arts and more. The program was produced for American Public Media and hosted by John Moe in Saint Paul, Minnesota. ''Weekend America'' launched Saturd ...

''. She was a host and reporter for NPR's daily news program, ''

Day to Day ''Day to Day'' (''D2D'') was a one-hour weekday American radio newsmagazine distributed by National Public Radio (NPR), and produced by NPR in collaboration with ''Slate''. Madeleine Brand, Alex Chadwick, and Alex Cohen served as hosts. Topics ...

'' and moved to KPCC radio in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Cohen was the afternoon host and reporter for "All Things Considered" from 2009-2012 before being named co-host of the 9-11 am morning program, "Take Two." In September 2018 Cohen was named morning news anchor and host for Spectrum Cable's all-news channel for Southern California. Cohen will also host a one-hour political program, "Inside the Issues." In July 2020, Cohen was part of the Spectrum News team recognized with an Emmy Award for the program “Under the Gun.”

Roller derby

From 2003-2010, Cohen was a member of the

Los Angeles Derby Dolls The L. A. Derby Dolls (LADD) is Los Angeles' original women's quad-skate banked track roller derby league. It was founded in October 2003 by Rebecca Ninburg (a.k.a. Demolicious) and Wendy Templeton (a.k.a. Thora Zeen). The league is composed of ...

, using the

derby name A derby name, roller derby name or skater name is a nickname used by a skater while playing or officiating roller derby. Derby names can be seen as an opportunity to adopt an alternative on-track persona. Many derby names are puns, and in some c ...

"Axles of Evil", and

TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls Texas Roller Derby (TXRD), formerly known as Texas Lonestar Rollergirls, is a banked-track roller derby league based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2001, TXRD is one of several leagues considered responsible for the modern roller derby revival. ...

, skating as "Smother Theresa". In 2009 Cohen was hired to work on the

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

-directed roller derby film, '' Whip It''. Cohen co-wrote an insider's guide to roller derby called ''Down and Derby'', published in 2010.

Personal life

In August 2007, Cohen, at age 35, married Richard Dean, then 41 and the technology director of a public radio station in Austin, Texas.

Filmography

*'' Whip It'' (2009, Fox Searchlight) as skate trainer, derby consultant, and herself.

Books

*''Down and Derby'' (2010, New York,

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent So ...

) is her insider's account of the history and culture of the roller derby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Alex American radio journalists Roller derby skaters American roller skaters Brown University alumni Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni Living people 1972 births Sportspeople from New York City