Jody Avirgan

EXCLUSIVE
  • Host of TED's 'Good Sport' Podcast, ESPN's '30 for 30' Podcasts, and More
  • Former Professional Ultimate Frisbee Player and Coach
  • Founder of Roulette Productions
  • Developed FiveThirtyEight Podcasts - covering politics, pop culture, and how data affects our lives

Podcaster and lifelong competitive athlete Jody Avirgan offers memorable lessons in creating team culture - drawing on what he's learned from playing with and covering top athletes - to help you achieve success as an individual, and by working together. Jody is the host of the show Good Sport from the TED Audio Collective, the Radiotopia show This Day In Esoteric Political History, and serves as story editor and executive producer for a number of projects. Previously, he ran and hosted 30 for 30 Podcasts, part of ESPN Films and was a producer at WNYC radio, working with shows including On the Media, Freakonomics, and more. Jody is the founder of Roulette Productions and developed FiveThirtyEight Podcasts, which covered politics, pop culture, and how data affects our lives.

Jody’s shows and series consistently reach large audiences, finding their way to the top of the iTunes charts and receiving critical acclaim. He is also organizer of the Pro-Democracy Podcast Coalition, a network of podcasts who have committed to sharing messages about protecting our democracy and reducing political corruption. Jody has spoken for groups including IAB Upfronts, Tedx, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, and more.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • IAB Upfronts
  • TEDx
  • Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
Jody Avirgan: My Favorite and Least Favorite Sports Cliches | TED's "Good Sport" - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Jody Avirgan
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How To Get Your Team On The Carousel of Culture

In this talk, podcaster and former ultimate frisbee player & coach JODY AVIRGAN shares how to determine the best culture for your team. Offering lessons in balancing individual success and collective achievement, Jody engages every audience with motivational storytelling, anecdotes from greats, ...

In this talk, podcaster and former ultimate frisbee player & coach JODY AVIRGAN shares how to determine the best culture for your team. Offering lessons in balancing individual success and collective achievement, Jody engages every audience with motivational storytelling, anecdotes from greats, and takeaways applicable to any team.

Life Lessons from the World of Sports

With humor and actionable insight, JODY AVIRGAN breaks down his top life lessons from the world of sports. Known for his sports podcasts with ESPN, MLB, and TED, Jody shares lessons he’s learned from talking to the best coaches and athletes in the game. From his favorite and least favorite sports cl ...

With humor and actionable insight, JODY AVIRGAN breaks down his top life lessons from the world of sports. Known for his sports podcasts with ESPN, MLB, and TED, Jody shares lessons he’s learned from talking to the best coaches and athletes in the game. From his favorite and least favorite sports cliches – and what we can learn from them – to how to become stronger team players and leaders through success-focused strategies, this motivational talk will have your team or organization ready to win, together.

Jody Avirgan is a Skilled Host & Moderator

With a slate of projects with WNYC, FiveThirtyEight, ESPN, and with TED, JODY AVIRGAN developed a lane as a fair, lively, curious moderator and seasoned interviewer on a wide range of subjects, from politics to media and culture and beyond. He has extensive experience producing powerful conversation ...

With a slate of projects with WNYC, FiveThirtyEight, ESPN, and with TED, JODY AVIRGAN developed a lane as a fair, lively, curious moderator and seasoned interviewer on a wide range of subjects, from politics to media and culture and beyond. He has extensive experience producing powerful conversations with top athletes and coaches, politicians, and more. Jody brings his unique perspective and instinct for comedy to every engaging conversation and panel - keeping the audience on the edge of their seats (and not checking their phones).

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Podcaster and professional athlete Jody Avirgan loves working wtih organizations to take their events to the next level - featuring the lessons sports can offer

Podcaster and lifelong competitive athlete JODY AVIRGAN has done dozens of talks and workshops on the lessons that sports can offer for ourselves and our world, so that attendees can better fit into teams, and lead teams, in the workplace and elsewhere. Known as the host of Good Sport from the TED Audio Collective and 30 for 30 Podcasts for ESPN Films, his work has brought me in close contact with top athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists. Jody has used sports as a lens to learn important lessons about leadership, teamwork, self-improvement, and success.

In his talks, Jody offers a mix of research, reporting, and lessons from my own time playing and coaching and leading teams. Leveraging his experience, he's facilitated small leadership workshops, given talks at large conferences, hosted social content, and more. Jody's goal is to use this experience to surprise, delight, inform and inspire your audience - and to help you achieve success as an individual, and by working together.

Watch Jody Avirgan on Adam Grant's 'Rethinking' podcast >>

Learn more about Jody Avirgan's projects on his website >>

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Biography

Jody Avirgan is a podcast host, producer, and editor. His production company is Roulette Productions.

He is the host of the Radiotopia show This Day In Esoteric Political History, and Good Sport from the TED Audio Collective, and serves as story editor and executive producer for a number of projects. Most recently he has helped make The Run, from MLB and Audacy; The Line, from Dan Taberski and Apple Podcasts; Adam McKay’s Death at the Wing from Hyperobject Industries; and Oprahdemics from Radiotopia. Jody is also one of the regular hosts for Hark Daily on the Hark podcast discovery app.

From 2017-2020, he ran and hosted 30 for 30 Podcasts, part of ESPN Films. He oversaw the production of two seasons of original audio documentaries each year, and hosted conversations with filmmakers and others in between seasons, along with live events and more. He was also involved in larger efforts at ESPN to grow the podcast strategy and slate of shows.

He also developed FiveThirtyEight Podcasts, where he hosted, reported and edited a variety of shows and projects. He was the host of the FiveThirtyEight politics podcast, where he covered the 2016 campaign and the rise of Trump; and was host of What's The Point - a show about how data affects our lives.

The shows and series he developed at ESPN and FiveThirtyEight consistently reached large audiences, found their way to the top of the iTunes charts, and received critical acclaim.

Prior to arriving at ESPN/538, he was a producer at WNYC radio, and has worked with shows such as "On The Media," "Marketplace," "Freakonomics," "99% Invisible," and many more.

He serves as a podcast judge for the Webbys, a mentor for the city of New York's podcast certification program and recommends podcasts as part of the Sunday Long Read newsletter. On the side he has hosted the comedy and storytelling series Ask Roulette, which is now a newsletter. He is also organizer of the Pro-Democracy Podcast Coalition, a network of podcasts who have committed to sharing messages about protecting our democracy and reducing political corruption.

Jody grew up in Costa Rica, speaks Spanish fluently, lives in Brooklyn and is one of those people who takes Ultimate frisbee way too seriously.