Phoebe Judge
Judge in 2020
Born (1983-09-02) September 2, 1983
EducationBennington College
Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
Known forCriminal podcast
This Is Love podcast

Phoebe Valentine Judge is an American journalist, best known as the host and co-creator of the podcasts Criminal and This Is Love.[1][2]

Early life and education

Judge was born to parents Valentine and Tony Judge,[3] and named after her aunt, Phoebe Legere.[2] She grew up in Chicago with her three siblings,[3] and attended university at Bennington College,[4] graduating in 2005. She eventually started interning at a public radio station in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which led her to enroll at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.[5]

Career

After graduating, Judge worked for several years as a journalist for public radio, beginning with a two-and-a-half-year stint working as a reporter for Mississippi Public Broadcasting.[5] She left to go to India to report and produce for a documentary on the country.[5]

What I’ve learned is that you can ask anyone pretty much anything as long as you’re genuinely interested in what they have to say – in their answer. And so I spend a lot of time thinking about my job as an interviewer, and realising that the best thing that I can do as an interviewer is to shut up, and to let someone tell their story.[6]

Judge, in an interview with Ezra Magazine

After returning from India, Judge landed a job with The Story with Dick Gordon.[5] While planning to do an interview on wrongful imprisonment with her colleagues at North Carolina Public Radio, Judge said, "Very quickly, once we started reading about the number of exonerees, about the number of potentially innocent people in jail ... it was clear that this was going to be more than one show, that this deserved to become a series.” Their investigation became “After Innocence: Exoneration in America,” a series that aired June 10–13, 2013 on the program The Story for American Public Media.[7]

When The Story ended in 2013, Judge and two colleagues, Lauren Spohrer and Eric Mennel, decided to create their own program.[5] Spohrer came up with the idea for the show while they were brainstorming on Judge's back porch.[8] They released the first episode of Criminal in January 2014. She continued to conduct interviews for and anchor WUNC's program of Here & Now until 2015, when she transitioned into filling in for vacant shifts.[4][8] The change came with Criminal's increased production schedule to one episode every two weeks.[8]

Judge has been invited for guest interviews on other podcasts including The Murder Squad.[9] She also continued to guest host The State of Things.[10]

During the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, Judge started a limited series podcast called Phoebe Reads a Mystery,[11] in which she reads a chapter of a novel each day. The first was Agatha Christie's first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles.[12]

Public image

Judge's voice has drawn commentary in the media. Alexis Soloski, theater critic at The New York Times, wrote that "no matter how strange or ghastly the crime, the voice of the host Phoebe Judge somehow remains implacable and oddly soothing."[13] The Star Tribune said, "Judge's sweetly modulated voice serves as a calm foil to the blood-soaked stories."[14] Judge herself has said, "I hope my voice shows reverence, to not only the topic and subject, but also the guest."[15]

Personal life

Judge says that she is "rigid" because she tends to be inflexible about certain habits, such as running 50 miles a month, preferring to eat scheduled meals, and maintaining a regular sleep schedule.[16] She is fond of long walks "for the fun of it," and will sometimes walk for miles, then call someone to pick her up.[5] Each year, she takes a two-week trip to northernmost Maine, where she vacations Internet-free.[8]

Her sister Chloe, 13 months her junior, died in 2015.[3][16] Judge's namesake aunt, Phoebe Legere, is a singer, painter, and musician who is the maestro of the Lower East Side Children's Chorus of the Theater for the New City.[2] Judge lives with her partner, Sara, in Durham, North Carolina.[2]

References

  1. ↑ White, Peter (February 22, 2019). "'Criminal' & 'This Is Love' Creators Eye Scripted Adaptations As They Take Advantage Of Podcast "Explosion"". Deadline. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Crowley, Chris (May 17, 2019). "Podcasting Star Phoebe Judge Eavesdrops at Dinner". Grub Street. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Judge, Chloe Hemenway". Chicago Tribune: 49. August 11, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Phoebe Judge". WUNC. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Douglas, Nick (January 16, 2019). "I'm Phoebe Judge, Host of 'Criminal' and 'This Is Love,' and This Is How I Work". LifeHacker. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  6. ↑ Bolger, Tanysha (March 5, 2019). "'Criminal' Podcast Host Phoebe Judge | Interview". Ezra Magazine. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  7. ↑ Vyse, Graham (June 7, 2013). "APM series examines exoneration in the U.S." Current. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "5 Burning Questions with WUNC's Phoebe Judge". Durham Magazine. October 27, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ Paul Holes and Billy Jensen (February 17, 2020). "Jensen and Holes: Winter Distraction with Phoebe Judge from Criminal". OMNY (Podcast). Exactly Right Media. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  10. ↑ McDonald, Glenn (July 6, 2017). "'Just tell a story': Behind the scenes at the thinking person's true crime podcast". The News & Observer. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  11. ↑ Phoebe Judge. "Phoebe reads a mystery" (Podcast). Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  12. ↑ Davies, Hannah J (April 3, 2020). "Choir practice on Skype, anyone? -- podcasts of the week; Twenty Thousand Hertz's Virtual Choir episode looks at a group of singers connected via the internet. Plus: podcasting with Poirot". The Guardian. London, England: Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  13. ↑ Mcdermon, Daniel (July 2, 2015). "What to Do This Weekend". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  14. ↑ Burger, Kevyn (June 26, 2018). "10 Must-Listen True Crime Podcasts". Star Tribune: E3. Retrieved April 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Kennings, Josh K (October 12, 2015). "A Q&A with Criminal's Phoebe Judge". Josh Jennings: Freelance Journalist. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  16. 1 2 Lily Sloane (April 4, 2018). "The Unknown". A Therapist Walks Into a Bar (Podcast). Retrieved April 23, 2020.
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