Jonathan Goldstein (born August 22, 1969)[1] is an American-Canadian author, humorist and radio producer. Goldstein has worked on radio programs and podcasts such as Heavyweight, This American Life, and WireTap. Goldstein's work has been academically examined as representative of "the positioning of Jews and Canadians as potentially overlooked minorities in the late-twentieth- and early twenty-first-century United States".[2]
After graduation, Goldstein supported himself by working in the telemarketing industry for ten years while continuing to write and attend readings.[8] He talked about this time on an episode of This American Life, 'Plan B'.[9]
Radio/audio
He hosted the CBC summer radio program Road Dot Trip[4] in 2000 and has contributed to shows like Dispatches and Outfront.[10] In 2000, his career received a boost after he was selected to work on Ira Glass' popular public radio program This American Life. Goldstein relocated to Chicago to work as a producer on the show. Many of Goldstein's pieces have been featured on This American Life where he is a contributing editor. From 2000 to 2002 he was also a producer of the show.[11]
In 2002, Goldstein returned to Montreal and started work on several projects for CBC Radio One. He hosted WireTap, which debuted in 2004 and ended in 2015. The program featured stories told over the phone.[11]
In September 2016, Goldstein began a new podcast, Heavyweight, with podcast network Gimlet Media.[13] The podcast was discontinued in 2023 by Spotify, which had purchased Gimlet in the meantime.[14]
In September 2007, WireTap producer Mira Burt-Wintonick released "Superstar of the Netherlands," a short film featuring Goldstein and WireTap regular Gregor Ehrlich, on YouTube.[17] In February 2008, Goldstein debuted the internet project CBC Web 3.0 which features the short "The Future is Yesterday,” a comedic take on the impersonal nature of the Internet.[18]
Canadian National Magazine Awards: Silver Award for Humour (2004)
The New York Festivals: Gold World Medal for Best Regularly Scheduled Comedy Program (2006) for WireTap
References
^Hays, Matthew (August 27, 2008). "Play it again, Sam—if only to placate the alien hordes". The National Post.
^Lambert, Josh (2016), "The Sound of "New Jews": David Rakoff and Jonathan Goldstein", Studies in American Jewish Literature, 35 (2), Penn State University Press: 233–256, doi:10.5325/studamerjewilite.35.2.0233, S2CID163284680
^"RoadDotTrip seeks the heart of Canada: CBC radio show sets up Goldstein as one-man crew;". The Edmonton Journal. July 1, 2000. p. C.5.
^ abWhyte, Murray (December 18, 2005). "Tapping into radio's creative potential; Wiretap Reality, fiction mix en route to a higher purpose Wiretap;". The Toronto Star. p. C.13.
^"CBC Web 3.0". cbcweb3point0.wordpress.com. February 22, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
^ abStoffman, Judy (December 13, 2006). "Lyrical Lullabies; Heather O'Neill's first novel, inspired by her hardscrabble childhood, draws raves". The Toronto Star. p. D.4.