Avery Trufelman is an American podcaster and

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music choi ...

best known for her work on '' 99% Invisible'' (2013–2020) and its spin-off, ''Articles of Interest'' (2018–present).

Background

Born into a "radio family" of two

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization th ...

producers, Trufelman was raised in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. She attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the c ...

, graduating in 2013 with degrees in German and Literature. While at Wesleyan, she worked at the campus radio station

WESU WESU is a college/community non-commercial FM radio station owned by Wesleyan University and licensed to Middletown, Connecticut. History It was founded in 1939 as an unofficial AM carrier current campus radio station in the basement of Clar ...

. After graduating, she interned for the now-defunct NPR Berlin in Germany.

Career

Following her stint with NPR, Trufelman interned with '' 99% Invisible'', eventually becoming the show's third full-time producer (after creator Roman Mars and Sam Greenspan, respectively), a position she would hold until her departure in 2020. In 2022, she returned for a single episode as "producer emeritus". In 2018, Trufelman spearheaded ''99% Invisibles first spinoff series, ''Articles of Interest'', which explores the origins of clothing pieces and fashion subcultures. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'' named the first season "the fourth best podcast of 2018" and the second season "the sixth best podcast of 2020", while ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...

'' named the season one finale, "Punk", the best podcast episode of 2018. At the conclusion of the second season, Trufelman announced her departure from ''99% Invisible''. The following year, upon selling ''99% Invisible'' to

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

, Mars transferred ownership of ''Articles of Interest'' to Trufelman. In 2022, Trufelman announced a third season, which, unlike the previous, is devoted to a single subject:

preppy Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a pe ...

fashion. In 2019, Trufelman was recruited to host ''Nice Try!'' for

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass '' SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 ...

's ''

Curbed ''Curbed'' is an American real estate and urban design website founded as a blog by Lockhart Steele in 2006. The full website, founded in 2010, featured sub-pages dedicated to specific real estate markets and metropolitan areas across the U ...

''. The first season, ''Utopian'', profiles various failed utopian experiments throughout history, including

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...

and

Biosphere 2 Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the univers ...

. The second season, ''Interior'', premiered in 2021. It traces the history of various homemaking tools, including the

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

and the crock-pot. In 2020, Trufelman left ''99% Invisible'' to host the relaunch of ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

s '' The Cut'' podcast, moving from Oakland to Brooklyn as a result. Her guests included cartoonist Allison Bechdel and screenwriters Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa. Trufelman left ''The Cut'' in 2021 to resume work on ''Nice Try!'' and ''Articles of Interest''.

Projects

References

Living people Wesleyan University alumni 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Place of birth missing (living people) American women podcasters American podcasters Writers from New York (state) People from Westchester County, New York 1991 births {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub