Hey

I’m Rachel m. ward

I use audio to solve problems.

If you need to get in touch with me you can email me at rachelmward at gmail.

Portfolio

What If We Get It Right (Book)

Our climate future is not yet written. What if we act as if we love the future? Role: producer.

Norah Jones Is Playing Along

Impromptu musical collaborations and candid conversations with artists like Remi Wolf, Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy and more. Role: coordinating producer.

5-4

A podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks, for Prologue Projects. Role: producer.

Backstitch

Backstitch, a podcast from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, accompanying the exhibition “Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women.” Role: editor.

Counterattack with Briana Scurry

Sinead Farrelly’s journey from hometown soccer star, to league whistleblower, to comeback kid. Role: editor.

If Books Could Kill

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds. Role: producer.

Chompers Alexa Skill & Podcast

Chompers is a Cannes Lion winning, twice-daily toothbrushing show for kids. Parents report that Chompers is a complete game-changer: it gets kids begging to brush for the two minutes that dentists recommend. Role: development, executive producer, host.

The Quartz Obsession

The forces that are changing the way we live and work. Role: producer.

No Denying It

The United Nations climate action podcast, from UN News. Role: development and lead producer.

Undistracted

Undistracted is about cutting out the distractions, the noise, the billions of tweets. We got work to do, and we’re going to do it together, and we’re going to find our joy along the way. We are undistracted. Role: lead producer.

Shoot The Messenger

Espionage, murder, Pegasus spyware and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Role: editor.

Stay Away from Matthew MaGill

A series of coincidences. A box containing the story of a strange man’s life. A five-year search to understand the truth about its owner. Role: unlicensed podcast therapist.

Adobe Podcast

Inspired by Dieter Rams 10 Timeless Commandments for Good Design, Wireframe is Adobe’s podcast about good user experience design, and how designers shape technology to fit into our lives. Hosted by Adobe senior principal designer Khoi Vihn. Role: editor.

The Sporkful

It’s not for foodies, it’s for eaters. Role: producer.

Spotify Wrapped Podcast

The Decade Wrapped , Gimlet’s first production for Spotify Studios, is a #tbt to the 2010s and the music that ruled them, from “Gangnam Style” to Ariana Grande. Role: producer.

Microsoft Podcast

Microsoft’s.future argues that the future doesn’t just HAPPEN. It’s the result of a series of choices that we’re making right now. Role: editor.

Nike Podcast

The Fenom Effect is Nike’s stories of athletes whose drive to redefine the rules doesn’t stop at sport. Role: producer.

Google Podcast

Think with Google helps marketing teams stay ahead of the curve. AdWeek’s 2020 Best Thought Leadership Podcast. Role: development.

Reebok Podcast

Flipping the Game is the real story behind Reebok’s iconic “Freestyle” sneaker. Role: editor.

Blue Apron Podcast

Why We Eat What We Eat is a podcast from Blue Apron and Gimlet Creative for anyone who has ever eaten. Role: producer.

Sleep Alexa Skill & Podcast

Sleep by Nature Made helps you quiet your mind and gently drift off to sleep with visualizations and nature sounds, as a podcast or for your smart speaker. Role: UX/VUI design, executive producer.

Tinder Podcast

DTR is Tinder’s podcast about defining the relationship in the digital age. Role: producer.

Seltzer Death Match Podcast

Side project: a podcast about the search for the world’s best seltzer. Role: co-founder, co-host.

Happy Meal Time Travel Challenge Alexa Skill

Happy Meal Time Travel Challenge is a branded skill for McDonald’s that keeps kids entertained without screens, by taking them on a true-or-false time travel guessing game. Role: development, executive producer.

Ford's "Go Further" Campaign

The “Go Further” campaign profiles Ford’s future-facing efforts. Role: producer.

Squarespace Podcast

Casting Call is Squarespace’s search for America’s next great podcaster. Role: mentor.

Virgin Atlantic Podcast

The Venture is Virgin Atlantic’s stories about pioneering businesses and the people who made them possible. Role: reporter, producer.

Surprisingly Awesome Podcast

A Gimlet Media podcast about all the things that you thought were boring but aren’t. Role: host, senior producer.

eBay Podcast

Open for Business is eBay’s podcast about building a business from the ground up. Role: producer.

What I do

PRODUCTION

DEVELOPMENT

CONCEPTING

EDITING

Recruiting

I’m a producer. The meaning of that word is industry-dependent, but when I say I’m a producer, I mean my job is to anticipate problems and solve them before they happen. My job is to think on my feet, get good assets, invent something new and beautiful, and hit the deadline.

Along the way, I’ll extract lessons and refine the process so the next time we do it, it’s faster, cheaper, and more fun.

I’ve helped startups build their teams, and made voice skills for Amazon Alexa and Google Home, podcasts for Gimlet Media, news broadcasts for NPR, and television for PBS.

valueS

I don’t think a job is just a job. It’s my work. It’s how I’m going to spend most of my time. I choose work where I can live my values.

professional VALUES

Everyone deserves an editor.

There is a solution.

Stories are the molecular unit of everything.

Teach don’t tell.

You need a big idea.

Let’s create a process.

Use privilege to destroy privilege.

PERSONAL VALUES

Radical empathy.

Black and brown, queer and femme people deserve bodily autonomy.

Everyone ought to feel the satisfaction of contributing.

Climate change is man-made and requires man-made solutions.

It is more important for more people to have economic security than for some people to have prosperity.

A free press is critical to a free state.

Safety is a human right.

Let’s focus on what we need, not what we want.

It is easier to tell the truth, to be kind, to say yes.

Experience

Currently

Working on a project basis as Good To Do Today.

Good To Do Today provides work-for-hire services across the audio production process, from me and my extensive network of producers, engineers, reporters, sound designers, composers and editors. Clients include Prologue Projects, Pineapple Street Media, the United Nations, Stitcher, PRX, Exile Content Studio and more.

Have a problem that needs solving? Reach out - I may be able to help.

Previously

Gimlet Media
October 2015 - June 2020

I served as the executive producer of special projects for Gimlet Creative, Gimlet Media’s branded studio. During my time there I built a Cannes Lion and Clio award-winning tooth brushing skill for kids for Amazon Alexa called Chompers, edited Adobe’s Wireframe and Microsoft’s .future, produced for Nike’s Fenom Effect podcast and Blue Apron’s Why We Eat What We and much, much more.
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National Public Radio
April 2012 - October 2015
I produced Morning Edition on the overnight run-up to the live broadcast, and through the live show, leading a team of producers and editors. I also field produced for Steve Inskeep, Renee Montagne, David Greene and Linda Wertheimer. I won the 2015 Spark & Impact Award for building a healthy and proactive culture on the overnight.
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Innovation Trail
June 2010 - April 2012
I was the founding editor of the Innovation Trail, a reporting collaboration housed at WXXI in Rochester, NY. Working with reporters and news directors at public media outlets across the state, we built upstate’s first vertical covering the innovation economy. My team fed the daily beast, did investigations, made TV shows, and collaborated outside of New York State on regional issues like fracking and horse racing. I designed systems to measure the strength of our reporting, wrote grants, and served as a member station lead on NPR’s Digital Services Core Publisher pilot project.
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WXXI Public Broadcasting
January 2007 - June 2010
I hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered and reported on county government and social justice issues. I was selected for NPR’s Economic Reporting Project fellowship.