About | Cast & Crew
Joellen Easton
Joellen Easton came to Marketplace's Sustainability Desk from Boston, MA, where she had worked in public radio since 1999. Most recently she was an associate producer at PRI's Global Resources Desk at The World, where she worked with reporters to help make connections between local and global stories. She also co-produced The Changing World and a special series on the world after the war in Iraq. Jo also worked at WGBH's Culture Desk, Sound & Spirit, and has freelanced as a reporter and producer for American and international programs.
Aside from her roles in public radio, Jo has worked as a lifeguard, camp counselor, substitute teacher, Indian breads chef, busker, and hardwood floor refinisher. She holds an M.S. in Comparative Media Studies from MIT, a B.A. in Anthropology from Tufts University, and has studied classical trumpet performance at New England Conservatory, West African drumming at the University of Ghana, and audio art in the woods of Quebec.
In graduate school, Joellen researched interactivities between radio broadcasters and their audiences in online discussion spaces, and wrote her master's thesis on "High-Interactivity Radio: Using the Internet to Enhance Community Among Radio Listeners." Jo is excited about the Public Insight Journalism project at American Public Media because it has the potential to significantly affect how journalism is practiced in the 21st century.
If you corner her, Jo will talk happily for hours about the future of journalism, user adaptations to new communications technologies, and the impact of media & technology on culture. She lives with her boyfriend and two large Bengal cats in Long Beach, CA, and is still searching for her local pub and commissary.
