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Ben Calhoun, an editor at “This American Life,” will be joining The Times as executive producer of “The Daily” at the end of this month. Ben will be the senior manager of “The Daily’s” team of 50 people.
Between 2014 and 2017, Calhoun left “This American Life” to serve as vice president of content and programming at WBEZ, Chicago’s public radio station. There, he oversaw all facets of the station’s editorial operations. He led a restructuring and expansion of the newsroom and a revamped and expanded podcast operation.
“I’m so incredibly excited to join ‘The Daily.’ I come to the show as a listener, and I have such an enormous appreciation for what the founders and staff of the show have built,” Ben said. “‘The Daily’ is such a forceful expression of the journalistic values and spirit of creativity that made me want to be a journalist to begin with. I’m looking forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone at the show, and stepping into this role, to serve those same principles. I’m eager to empower the staff, and the members of the newsroom who contribute to the show, in every way I can.”
“What’s unusual about Ben is that in addition to his first-rate radio editing chops, he’s a great manager. Way better than most,” says Ira Glass. “In our show and in his years running WBEZ, the people under him felt supported and heard, and they grew under his empathetic and thoughtful approach. Great editors are rare, but great editor/managers even rarer. I bite my lip at his departure but, of course, wish Ben the best in his new job.”