Classy's Jonathan Menjivar: The Fine, Awkward Art of the Personal Audio Documentary
Sound Judgment
Personal Experiences and Presenting class with Joy
The speaker shares their personal experience of growing up with divorced parents and how it influenced their perspective. They highlight the need to present stories about working class people with joy and celebration, and discuss their intentions of creating an entertaining series on class in America.
The episode discussed on today's Sound Judgment is Classy with Jonathan Menjivar, Episode 1: Are Rich People Bad?
Jonathan Menjivar is a senior producer at Pineapple Street Studios and the creator and host of Classy with Jonathan Menjivar. He also made the hit shows Project Unabom and The Clearing. Prior to Pineapple, he was a longtime producer at the public radio show This American Life and also served as the show's music supervisor. He's also worked as a producer at Fresh Air with Terry Gross and contributed to numerous public radio outlets, including Marketplace and Transom.org.
Classy with Jonathan Menjivar: Credits
Host Jonathan Menjivar also serves as senior producer on Classy. Additional credits: Kristen Torres, producer; Marina Henke, associate producer; Asha Saluja, senior managing producer; Haley Howle, editor; Joel Lovell, executive editor; Marina Paiz, senior engineer; Max Linsky and Jenna Weiss-Berman, executive producers.
You can follow Jonathan on X/Twitter; Instagram; and Threads or Pineapple Street Studios on X/Twitter and Instagram.
If you liked my conversation with Jonathan Menjivar, you’ll love:
Sound Judgment Episode 16: How to Pitch an Audio Documentary and the Unusual Origin of a This American Life Story, with Katie Colaneri, senior podcast editor at New Hampshire Public Radio
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The Sound Judgment team is:
Host & Producer: Elaine Appleton Grant
Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson
Audio engineer/sound designer: Kevin Kline
Podcast manager: Tina Bassir
Cover art by Sarah Edgell
Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC
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Jonathan’s takeaways
These are the takeaways from the end of the episode. For more takeaways from all of our guests, subscribe to the Sound Judgment newsletter and visit our blog.
- Tough topics don’t have to sound dreary or earnest. Right from the very beginning, Jonathan sets a scene that evokes joy. It makes you want to dance. In this way, he’s letting listeners know that he’s talking about class, but it’s not a lesson. You’re going to be entertained.
- It may be even more helpful to use humor when you’re tackling difficult topics than it is with anything else. When we add some jokes, people listen more. We can deal with hard stuff better. Make sure you point the jokes at yourself, though, not someone else. Jonathan says Classy listeners “should feel comfortable knowing that if I'm going to criticize anyone…it's going to be me first.”
- Classy is very revealing. We learn a lot about Jonathan’s feelings. So when you write your own scripts, think about what’s personal versus what’s private? Set boundaries. Know what you’re willing to share and what you’re not.
- Finding your own style of delivery is important, and it can be deceptively hard. It’s OK to start out copying someone else’s style, Jonathan says. Eventually, you’ll find what Jonathan found – his Hulk energy – the true voice that’s yours and nobody else’s.
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Credits
Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC.
Host: Elaine Appleton Grant
Podcast Manager: Tina Bassir
Production Manager: Andrew Parrella
Audio Engineer: Kevin Kline
Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson
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