Steve Lickteig

I'm retired after a long career in audio journalism, most recently leading CNN's podcast team. These days I'm turning my attention back to documentary filmmaking.

Over the years I've had the chance to build podcast networks, launch new shows, and lead teams at CNN, NBC News, MSNBC, Slate, NPR, SiriusXM, and Small Good Thing, the podcast consulting company I co-founded.

I started at NPR as an overnight production assistant in 1997 and eventually worked on every major NPR News program before becoming executive producer of Weekend All Things Considered. Later I ran Slate's podcast network, helping launch shows including Hit Parade, Slow Burn, and What Next. I also led podcasts and audio at NBC News and MSNBC before joining CNN.

Long before podcasts existed, I worked as a reporter, producer, anchor, at radio stations in Kansas and Colorado. I began my radio career as a country music DJ at KOFO-AM in Ottawa, Kansas, where I literally spun the country hits.

I've also worked in documentary film. My documentary Open Secret premiered at Hot Docs in Toronto in 2011 and was later broadcast in six countries, including the U.S. on Al Jazeera America. I was also the assistant director of Waiting for Hockney, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

I grew up on a farm in Kansas and now split my time between Washington, D.C., and Portland, Maine, with my wife and our two sons.

And, a lifetime ago, I served in the United States Marine Corps.