The Berlin School of Podcasting
The Berlin School of Podcasting teaches the art and technology of digital audio storytelling. We offer Online Programs, Professional Development Courses and The Episode One Summer School, an intensive four-week program for first-time podcasters, based in Berlin.
We believe stories can change the world.
Community
Students from all over the world
Berlin School of Podcasting students come from a diversity of backgrounds. We are an inclusive, inter-generational, international community of digital audio storytellers and you can find out more about us here.
Founder
Benjamin Lorch
Benjamin is a builder of schools, education programs and podcasts. Raised on radio in his youth, he developed a deep passion for stories and voices. As an educator and expert in intercultural exchange programs and partnerships, he has grounded two European business schools, one international study center and inaugurated a computer coding bootcamp within Germany's #1 ranked business school (ESMT Berlin.) More about Benjamin here.
Friends of the Berlin School of Podcasting
Trevor Silverstein, Step One+ Comedy
Filmmaker Comedian Podcaster
Trevor is a filmmaker/comedian/podcaster based in Berlin since 2015. After studying Film/TV Production at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, he worked in television for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as for Emmy Award-winning writer/producer James Manos, Jr. In Berlin, he performs in a variety of improv comedy shows at Comedy Cafe Berlin and is a host/producer of The Berlin Open Stage Show, a live character comedy podcast
Jonathan Groubert, Step One Classic Storytelling
Jonathan is an award-winning international storyteller, narrative journalist, lecturer and is one of Europe's first podcasters. These days he makes (branded) podcasts for the likes of BNR Newsradio and KLM. He teaches storytelling and investigative journalism at the Radio Netherlands Training Centre and the University of Groningen. He was also the host of the internationally lauded public radio show “The State We’re In” first from Radio Netherlands and then as a podcast for WBEZ, Chicago Public Media.
His work has been broadcast by the BBC, NPR, the Australia Broadcasting Corporation and Deutsche Welle as well as the podcasts Vox Tablet and Snap Judgment. An expert interviewer, Jonathan helped coined the term “talkumentary” in which interview and narrative combine to tell truly powerful stories. This American Life’s Ira Glass described Jonathan as “one of the best radio interviewers I have ever heard.”
Sumi Somaskanda
Journalist
Sumi is a freelance reporter, writer, editor, and news anchor living and working in Berlin for more than a decade. She covers politics, breaking news, immigration, and economics. Her reporting has taken her across Germany and Europe.
Sumi is currently a senior news anchor at DW News (Deutsche Welle), Germany's international broadcaster. Sumi reports on Germany for various international publications, including The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Global Post, Newsweek, PRI, and USA Today. She served as an editor at the Berlin Policy Journal, Germany's premiere English-language foreign affairs magazine.
She regularly moderates panels and conferences both in Germany and the US and lectures American university students at the CIEE Global Institute in Berlin. Sumi is an alumna of the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship program and part of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network. In addition to her native English, she speaks fluent German and Spanish, and conversational Tamil. More on Sumi and her work here.
Klaus G. Kammermeier
Founder of Innovation.Labs.Berlin
Klaus helps start-up teams, corporations and other organizations to innovate with greater impact and speed. He is a sought-after trainer, mentor, and speaker on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation for organizations, teams, and leaders. He has coached over 150 founders and startups and actively participates in many international programs including the Founder Institute. And, Klaus is just a wonderful person!
More . . .
Monika Müller-Kroll
Radio Reporter & Producer
Through 2020, Monika Müller-Kroll was the executive producer of KCRW Berlin's current affair show, "Studio Berlin," and creator of "Wednesday 3 p.m.," a series of short stories recorded by writers in Berlin and around the world.
Monika has lived in Amsterdam, London and Los Angeles, filing radio reports for German Public Radio, including Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) and Deutschlandradio Kultur.
She also worked for the BBC World Service and contributed to American radio programs, producing stories for "Studio 360" and NPR's former midday program "Day to Day."
In 2005, she won the RIAS Berlin Kommission Radio Award for her essays "Berlin Impressions," and between 2007-2017, she produced short features for NPR Berlin's "Life in Berlin" series.