I’m a journalist and audio producer with a background in education and theatre. I was born on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, and have lived in Brooklyn since 2011.
Most recently, I worked as a producer at National Public Radio (NPR), where my portfolio included All the Only Ones, a narrative series about transgender youth, past and present, published on the Embedded feed; and Season 4 of Planet Money Summer School, the Planet Money MBA.
I am one of the creators and hosts of Unsettled, a long-running independent podcast about Israel-Palestine. I’m currently writing a longform reported story for Jewish Currents magazine about Jewish life and politics in Miami.
I reported, produced, and co-hosted two seasons of School Colors, a narrative series about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools. After the show premiered in 2019 to critical acclaim, I was awarded the Spencer Fellowship in Education Reporting at Columbia Journalism School to begin work on a second season. Season 2 was published in full by NPR's Code Switch.
In the early weeks of COVID-19, I produced Making the Call, a weekly show about medical ethics and the pandemic for Endeavor Content. I also recently wrote an obituary/memoir/playlist for Stephen Sondheim.
Before becoming a journalist, I was a facilitator with Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, adjunct faculty at Pratt Institute and a senior educator at the New-York Historical Society, where I created an enrichment program for grades 4-8 using musicals to teach American history.
I hold a B.A. in theatre from Northwestern University, and an M.S. in design and urban ecologies from Parsons School of Design.
Contact: max [dot] freedperson [at] gmail [dot] com