Sarah Koenig
Sarah Koenig (; born July 9, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist, public radio personality, former producer of the television and radio program "This American Life", and the host and executive producer of the podcast "Serial". Early life. Koenig was born July 1969 in New York City to Julian Koenig and his second wife, Maria Eckhart. Sarah is Jewish. Her father was a well known copywriter. After her parents' divorce, Sarah’s mother married writer Peter Matthiessen. Koenig graduated from the University of Chicago in 1990 with an A.B., majoring in Political Science. She attended Columbia  University for a postgraduate degree in Russian history, but she left after two weeks. Career. After graduating from college Koenig began working as a reporter at "The East Hampton Star". Then she worked in Russia as a reporter for ABC News and later for "The New York Times". She covered the State House (politics) for the "Concord Monitor" and later for the "Baltimore Sun". She began working as a producer for "This American Life" in January 2004. She co-produced the 2006 Peabody Award-winning episode of "This American Life" titled "Habeas Schmabeas." In 2013, she began work on a  spinoff podcast of the "This American Life" radio program titled "Serial", which debuted in October 2014. "Serial" was honored with a Peabody award in April 2015, noting that it took podcasting into the cultural mainstream. Recognition and honors. "TIME" magazine named Koenig one of "The 100 Most Influential People" on April 16, 2015. Also in 2015, she was named as one of "The Forward 50". Personal life. Koenig is the daughter of advertising copywriter Julian Koenig and Maria (Eckhart) Matthiessen. Her stepfather was novelist Peter Matthiessen. Koenig attended Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts. She lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with  her husband, Ben Schreier, an associate professor of Jewish studies and English at Penn State, and their two children. In popular culture. In the fortieth season of "Saturday Night Live", Sarah was portrayed by Cecily Strong in a segment titled "Serial: The Christmas Surprise", a parody of Sarah's investigative podcast, "Serial". In 2015, Koenig cameoed as herself in the second season episode of "BoJack Horseman", "Out to Sea", voicing Diane Nguyen's ringtone with a parody of her "Serial" introduction. This came a season after podcaster Ira Glass held the same to-be-recurring role. In Hulu's "Only  Murders in the Building", the podcast "All is Not OK In Oklahoma" and character Cinda Canning played by Tina Fey were inspired by Sarah Koenig and her podcast "Serial".