Who We Are

Farai Chideya is the creator and host of Our Body Politic, a nationally syndicated public radio show, podcast and insights brand centering Black women and all women of color as we seek to build a better nation and world. She recently served as a program officer for journalism at the Ford Foundation. She’s the author of six books, including The Episodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption. Chideya has covered every Presidential election from 1996 on; worked for FivethirtyEight, NPR, CNN, ABC, and NPR; and appeared on numerous other networks. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, she graduated from Harvard University and splits her time between Washington D.C. and Brooklyn, NY.

Morgan Givens is a senior producer at Our Body Politic. He’s also a storyteller, writer, editor, voice actor and the creator and host of the award winning fiction podcast Flyest Fables. A graduate of the Transom Storytelling Workshop, he’s produced for NPR and WAMU’s national daily news show 1A, WNYCs The Takeaway, A&E and the History Channel’s History This Week and has written for Rusty Quill’s Trice Forgotten. Currently, he mentors up and coming audio producers, and works as a consultant for podcast development for Hollywood studios. His work has been featured on NPRs Invisibilia, and in The Washington Post. Named one of Variety Magazine’s storytellers to watch, he’s currently repped by CAA.

Bridget McAllister (she/her) is a Booking Producer at Our Body Politic. She has worked in production at MSNBC’s The ReidOut and Hardball, and at POLITICO. Bridget is currently pursuing a Master’s in Counseling at Barry University. She lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida, with her husband and daughter. Bridget’s favorite Our Body Politic episode is Indigenous Leaders on Protecting Native Rights, Land, & Culture featuring Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland

Ann Marie Awad is a producer with Our Body Politic. As a writer, teacher and audio journalist, Ann’s work focuses on changing drug policy in America. They created and hosted the award-winning podcast On Something, all about life after cannabis legalization, and they are also a journalism fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. Ann is based in Denver, Colorado.

David Escobar is a Producer at Our Body Politic. He is an audio journalist, who also currently works as the News Editor at WFUV 90.7 FM in the Bronx. Along with mentoring student reporters at WFUV, he produces, directs, and hosts the station’s student-run, daily news podcast What’s What. Before joining Our Body Politic, David worked as an intern producing daily segments for WNYC’s The Takeaway. He’s also currently finishing his public media master’s degree at Fordham University.

Shanta Covington is an award-winning content creator and storyteller with 25 years of experience in production including television/digital/film/radio & podcasts. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Producer for Our Body Politic and owns and operates her own photography and video company.

Mike is an audio engineer and sound designer with over two decades of broadcast radio experience. Before he came to Our Body Politic, he worked at NPR affiliate WBUR-FM in Boston where his work had been broadcast on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, On Point, Here & Now, Radio Boston, Open Source, and Only A Game. In addition to his time in radio, he has also been producing music. His love for all genres of music and vinyl records led him down a path to beat-making and, later, songwriting. He has produced five hip-hop albums. Mike holds a BA in Sociology from Boston University. He enjoys listening to interesting podcasts, documentaries, and streaming series. He spends his time listening to the records in his extensive vinyl collection, cooking, trying new restaurants and bars. He’s also a big Boston sports fan.

Monica Morales-Garcia is a Producer at Our Body Politic. She is an audio journalist, fact-checker, and fashion scholar from Santa Ana, California. Her work centers on beauty, aesthetics, and race. Before joining Our Body Politic, Monica was a producer at WNYC’s, The Takeaway and has produced narrative audio stories at Latino USA on the cultural meanings of Gossip, and the hidden history of the Little Black Dress. She received a BA in American Studies from CSU, Long Beach, and a MA in American Studies, from CSU, Fullerton where their thesis explored the intersection of labor and fashion through auto-ethnographic research.

Favorite Episodes:

• Transpolitics 101
• Layoffs, Shutdowns, and Cancellations: The Latest News About the News

Audrey is the Social Media and Design Manager at Our Body Politic. She formerly worked as an election engagement producer at NPR’s California Newsroom and a digital producer at KQED News. She also served as KQED’s Raul Ramirez Diversity Fund intern where she developed stories focused on identity and underrepresented voices in media, while earning her B.A. in journalism with a minor in political science at San Francisco State University.