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This American Life Host Ira Glass will receive the first-ever On Air Fest Audio Vanguard Award. On Air Fest is a gathering of audio creators, industry leaders and fans come together to explore storytelling and creativity in sound.
This year, the fourth annual On Air Fest will take place at the Wythe from March 5-8, 2020.
The On Air Fest Audio Vanguard Award honors a creative icon whose work has advanced the culture of audio. The award recognizes a leader whose contribution to the storytelling medium has inspired a creative legacy.
Glass began his career as an intern at National Public Radio’s network headquarters in Washington, DC in 1978, when he was 19 years old. Over the years, he worked on nearly every NPR network news program and held virtually every production job in NPR’s Washington headquarters. In 1995, Glass and Torey Malatia developed This American Life with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, a journalistic nonfiction program that won a Peabody Award within its first six months and became nationally syndicated a year later. Today, This American Life is a household name and has left an indelible mark on the radio and podcasting industry for its rich, innovative storytelling. Glass is also one of the editors of the acclaimed podcasts Serial and S-Town.