Louisa Elizabeth Miller, better known as Lulu Miller, is an American writer and Peabody Award-winning science reporter for
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 ...
.
Miller's career in radio started as a producer for the
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 that di ...
program ''
Radiolab
''Radiolab'' is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first off ...
''.
She helped create the
NPR
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 ...
show ''
Invisibilia
''Invisibilia'' is a radio program and podcast from National Public Radio, which debuted in early 2015 and "explores the intangible forces that shape human behavior—things like ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions." The program's title com ...
'' with
Alix Spiegel
Alix Spiegel is an American public radio producer and science journalist. She is currently a senior audio editor for ''The New York Times''. Spiegel previously hosted and produced the NPR program '' Invisibilia'' with Hanna Rosin and worked on ' ...
.
Biography
The daughter of two professors, one in sciences and one in humanities, Miller attended
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
where she received the Beik Prize for a research paper titled, "The Troubles By Our Women: The Urban Male Perspective on Independent Women in Independent Nigeria" in 2005. She graduated with a degree in history.
Career
After college, she moved to
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
where an interest in sculpture led her to answer a
craigslist
Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Craig Newmark ...
ad from a
woodworker
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials ...
who was seeking an assistant. She spent her hours at the woodworking shop listening to the radio, and toward the end of her year working there, she heard ''Radiolab'', which was then a local show on
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 that di ...
.
She fell in love with the show and wrote them a letter, asking if she could volunteer. She started as an intern, going in one day a week to answer emails and record CDs, and eventually became the show's first hired
audio producer.
''RadioLab'' won a Peabody award in 2010, while she was one of its producers.
After five years at ''Radiolab'', Miller left to pursue her passion as a writer via a fellowship position at the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
(UVA) where she taught and wrote
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
. Before moving to Virginia, she spent a summer
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
across the United States, a trip that she documented and featured parts of on ''Radiolab''.
After her two years at UVA, Miller returned to radio as a
freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
journalist for NPR's Science Desk. On a trip to the
Third Coast International Audio Festival
The Third Coast International Audio Festival (TCIAF or TCF), based in Chicago, curates audio stories from around the world and showcases them in various mediums. It is informally referred to as the "Sundance of Radio".
The festival was affiliated ...
in Chicago, she met former ''
This American Life
''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long 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 internation ...
'' producer
Alix Spiegel
Alix Spiegel is an American public radio producer and science journalist. She is currently a senior audio editor for ''The New York Times''. Spiegel previously hosted and produced the NPR program '' Invisibilia'' with Hanna Rosin and worked on ' ...
who asked Miller to produce a piece she was working on. The two began working on radio stories together and began to conceive a new long-form radio show that would become ''
Invisibilia
''Invisibilia'' is a radio program and podcast from National Public Radio, which debuted in early 2015 and "explores the intangible forces that shape human behavior—things like ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions." The program's title com ...
''. Launched in January 2015, the show focuses on "the unseen forces that control human behavior."
Excerpts of ''Invisibilia'' were featured on ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'', ''
Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'', ''Radiolab'' and ''This American Life'' helping it to debut at #1 on the
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
chart and hold a consistent top-ten ranking in the months following its launch.
In 2020, she published ''Why Fish Don't Exist'',
a personal memoir incorporating the life and work of
David Starr Jordan
David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...
.
Following the retirement of
Jad Abumrad
Jad Nicholas Abumrad ( ar, جاد نيكولاس أبومراد; born April 18, 1973) is an American radio host, composer, and producer. He is the founder and former host of the syndicated public radio program ''Radiolab'' with Latif Nasser and ...
in January 2022, Miller became the new co-host of
Radiolab
''Radiolab'' is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first off ...
together with producer
Latif Nasser
Latif Abdul Nasser (born July 21, 1986) is a Canadian-American researcher, writer and presenter. He is the Director of Research and co-host at ''Radiolab'' and host of the Netflix show ''Connected''.
Early life and education
Nasser was born to ...
.
Personal life
Miller openly admits to being an
ophidiophobe
Ophidiophobia (or ophiophobia) is a particular type of specific phobia, the irrational fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (), snake, and "pho ...
, a person with an irrational fear of snakes.
She is married to Grace Miller and they have two sons.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Lulu
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American radio producers
Swarthmore College alumni
NPR personalities
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
Women radio producers