Molly Kristin Wood (born May 23, 1975) is an American venture capitalist, podcast host, and journalist.

Early life and education

Molly Wood was born in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

on May 23, 1975. She graduated in May 1997 with a BA in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

with a minor in French from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. During her senior year she served as the editor of the weekly student newspaper, the ''

Montana Kaimin The ''Montana Kaimin'' is the University of Montana's student-run independent newspaper located in Missoula, Montana. The paper is printed once a week, Thursday, with special editions printed occasionally. The current editor-in-chief is Griffen ...

.'' Upon graduation, she took a job as a reporter at the ''

Missoulian The ''Missoulian'' is a daily newspaper printed in Missoula, Montana, United States. The newspaper has been owned by Lee Enterprises since 1959. The ''Missoulian'' is the largest published newspaper in Western Montana, and is distributed througho ...

''. In July 1997, she joined the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, handling a variety of both general news and sports stories in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

Career

Molly was the tech correspondent and backup host for the US

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

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 its various spinoffs. She also co-hosted the

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 ...

Make Me Smart Make or MAKE may refer to: * Make (magazine), a tech DIY periodical *Make (software), a software build tool *Make, Botswana, in the Kalahari Desert *Make Architects Make Architects is an international architecture practice headquartered in Londo ...

'' with

Kai Ryssdal Kai Ryssdal (; born October 8, 1963) is an American radio journalist and the host of ''Marketplace'', a business program that airs weekdays on U.S. public radio stations. He also co-hosts the spinoff podcast ''Make Me Smart'' with Kimberly Adams. ...

. She has previously held positions as an executive editor at

CNET.com ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

as well as a writer for the

, '' MacHome Journal'' magazine,

O'Reilly Media O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) is an American learning company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books, produces tech conferences, and provides an online learning platform. Its distinctive brand features a woodcut of an ...

, and the deputy technology editor for the Business Day section of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Wood hosted the ''Gadgettes''

with Kelly Morrison, and "The Buzz Report", a technology video news column that was published weekly. She has appeared in mainstream media shows such as ''

Live! With Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'',

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 ''

'', and

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

's '' On the Money'' and was the co-host of the ''

Buzz Out Loud ''Buzz Out Loud'', "CNET's podcast of indeterminate length," or ''BOL'', as it is affectionately titled by its fans, was a podcast about technology produced by CNET. The podcast was released daily on weekdays for the majority of its run, and we ...

with

Tom Merritt Thomas Andrew Merritt (born June 28, 1970) is an American technology journalist, writer, and broadcaster best known as the host of several podcasts. He is a former co-host of ''Tech News Today'' on the TWiT.tv Network, and was previously an exe ...

, then Brian Tong, which ended in early 2012. Wood is well known for being the host of

CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

tech show '' Always On'', in addition to her podcast ''It's a Thing'', an effort reuniting her with former ''BOL'' co-host Tom Merritt. She is also a guest commentator for American Public Media's programs ''Marketplace'' and the ''Marketplace Morning Report''. On October 7, 2013, Wood announced she would leave CNET at the end of that month in order to pursue independent projects. She took part in several panels at CES 2014. In January 2014, Wood announced via her personal blog that she would be joining ''The New York Times''. In March 2015, just over a year after joining the ''Times'', she announced that she was leaving to report and serve as a

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

correspondent, along with occasional hosting, for

's ''Marketplace'', a set of public radio programs about business and the economy. Together with ''Marketplace'' host

, Wood began hosting the ''Marketplace'' podcast ''

with Kai and Molly'' on November 28, 2016. On September 5, 2017, Wood began hosting the weekday ''Marketplace Tech'' program in addition to her role as correspondent with ''Marketplace''. Between 2019 and 2020, she was also a regular contributor to the ''Ideas'' section of

WIRED ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

. On November 3, 2021, Molly announced on Twitter that she would be leaving Marketplace to join

Jason Calacanis Jason McCabe Calacanis (born November 28, 1970) is an American Internet entrepreneur, angel investor, author and podcaster. His first company was part of the dot-com era in New York. His second venture, Weblogs, Inc., a publishing company tha ...

's venture capital firm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Molly 1975 births American women podcasters American podcasters People from Helena, Montana Living people University of Montana alumni 21st-century American women