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Check Out Emma Lehman’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Lehman.

Emma Lehman

Hi Emma, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I came into audio journalism, narrative audio, production, and script writing all by way of traditional journalism. After studying English, professional writing, and global studies, I set out into the tumultuous and rapidly imploding field of print journalism… Only to find that it was, indeed, rapidly imploding. After a few short-lived internships (unpaid, of course) and some freelance work with local newspapers, I was itching to write the kind of deeply-reported investigative stories that I had worked on in college. I was an avid reader of publications like The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and hoped to report and write stories like the ones I loved to read myself. But with every 5,000-word piece I proudly sent to my friends, family, and network, I increasingly felt that written investigative reporting was, for lack of a better word, a little elitist. Here I was, working for months on a story the size of a short novel, compiling pages and pages of investigation into something that nobody had the time for. Think about it: who among us – with jobs, responsibilities, kids, or a combination of all of those – has the time to sit down with a hot cup of tea and a 12-page story about Orientalism in 1980s funk? Who comes home from a long shift at work and thinks, “oh boy, time to spend an hour and a half reading about the history of America’s exurbs?” Of course, thorough and honest reporting is incredibly important – which underscored this revelation I was having. If deeply reported stories are so important, why are they often presented so inaccessibly, whether they’re behind a paywall, part of a subscription service, or simply too damn long for the average person to surmount? This realization led me to audio journalism. Here was a medium where this kind of reporting could be made accessible and engaging – rather than sitting down with pages and pages of dense text, a listener could turn on a podcast and listen to it instead. Not only that, but listeners could hear these important stories straight from the mouths of those impacted or involved. It was the idea of making investigative journalism accessible and exciting that drove me to create my first independent podcast, Texas Twiggy, and has been the goal of my production and writing work ever since.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My path into this industry was neither a linear nor a traditional one, and I think that’s been the case for most people for years now. Especially in creative fields, and especially in podcasting, there really is no prescriptive path that easily transitions you from aspiration into practice. Unfortunately, even a college degree is no longer a guarantee that you’ll get any job at all, let alone one in your field. Though well-meaning, pretty much all advice I got from anyone over 35 was outdated and frankly idealistic for the world that people my age are facing. After graduation, I applied to exactly 573 jobs, from production assistant to reporter to copyeditor to social media manager, then eventually to anything that would involve use of the written English language. After nearly two years of daily applications, I received three automated rejections, one rejection from an actual human being, and one especially maddening automated rejection which read, and I quote, “Thank you for your time, [applicant name.]” While I threw my resume into various voids, I worked mostly food service jobs, the money from which I used to produce my independent podcasts. By the time my second limited series had finished, I was pretty set on working jobs outside of my field for a year or two, quitting, and draining those funds on passion projects, over and over again, until I decided I was tired of it or my parents got annoyed with me (incredibly, the latter came before the former.) I produced my second investigative series, Gooned, on a budget of “14 months at Trader Joe’s,” expecting it to be part of that cycle… But Gooned ended up being recognized with multiple awards, and it was from that press coverage that my first real, bona fide job in podcasting fell into my lap when I least expected it. I still have to pinch myself sometimes – I didn’t expect to ever make money from writing, reporting, or production. In fact, I think I speak for a lot of young creatives when I say that many of us have acquiesced to our chosen field being a side project or even a money sink, rather than a source of income. Whenever I talk about my own career journey, I think it’s really important to mention that I am incredibly fortunate and have been afforded privileges that many people don’t have – regardless of what job I was (or wasn’t) working, or what ambitious production I had decided to embark upon, my family and friends were always supportive, I had stable housing, access to resources, and I live in a vibrant and diverse city that is rife with connections. This doesn’t discount the hard work and dedication I’ve put into my career, but I didn’t do it “on my own” by any means! Were it not for the kindness and generosity of my friends, family, and community; the members of my production teams who were willing to work with me for labor trades and appreciation, and several connections who were willing to stick their necks out for an early-career producer, I absolutely couldn’t have ended up where I am, nor could I continue to pursue my passions like I have been. I owe so much to those who have helped me along the way.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have always loved consuming any kind of deeply-reported documentary and nonfiction media – everything from deep-dive articles to documentary films to narrative audio pieces to investigative podcast series. I’m definitely a nonfiction junkie, and I specialize in the rabbit hole. Whether I’m producing a show, writing a script, or conducting research, I am always excited to spend the time to find every morsel of interesting information that I can. Never once have I gotten a note from an editor asking for more information (though “Emma, this episode can only be 45 minutes” is a critique with which I am intimately familiar.) Ask me for the backstory on anything from Los Angeles zoning requirements to the differences between commercially available species of Japanese squash, and you’re going to get a much longer answer than you wanted. It can definitely be a fault: I was once nearly disinvited to dinner because my friend made the mistake of telling me it was at Zankou Chicken, a local restaurant with a murder in its history, and I spent about 30 text messages explaining that history to everyone in the group chat. In my work, however, my curiosity is my biggest asset. Whether I’m making an independent project or working with a client, I’ll always spend the time and effort to get the information that makes a story interesting, poignant, relevant, and important. I’m frequently working on tight deadlines or tight budgets, but even when resources and time seem scarce, I always find a way to get my grubby little hands on the factoids I so love. Across all of my projects, independent and otherwise, I’m proud of having created something that I myself would find engrossing, with those little morsels of intrigue that often go missed.

What were you like growing up?
I have always been a huge reader – for a good chunk of my adolescence, I read a novel a week, and in fifth grade, I read the dictionary cover to cover (yes, I was an absolutely insufferable 12-year-old.) As a teenager, I started reading more nonfiction, and fell in love with nonfiction podcasts in high school, listening to the entirety of available Radiolab episodes at least twice. My love of reading translated well into writing, which I quickly grabbed onto as both a passion and a career aspiration. Though I’ve wanted to be everything from a novelist to a poet to a researcher, I’ve wanted to write since I couldn’t even hold a pencil properly. I’ve also always been creative! I’ve been doing some form of visual art ever since I can remember; I started embroidering when I was 13, taught myself Photoshop at 12, and have been making my own clothes and jewelry since… Well, since that one particularly egregious 7th grade picture day when I wore earrings made out of old Crayons. Mediums have come and gone, but at the ripe old age of 24, I’m still embroidering, and even show my pieces at local galleries and markets. I also still fancy myself a Photoshop wizard, though lately I’ve been making more memes than fine art.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Ivan Tung (credit for the “personal photo”)

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