Leyla Doss
Audio Producer
About
I'm a New York-based audio producer, political journalist, and researcher. I tell stories that explain the "why" of politics and foreign policy in easy-to-understand and entertaining formats. I also worked for over 10 years as a print political reporter covering Egypt, the rest of North Africa, and parts of the Middle East. Beyond politics, I also covered the economy, natural resource conflicts, food sovereignty, and social psychology.
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My audio work has appeared in various outlets including Transmitter Media (for Ted Audio Collective), Kerning Cultures Network, the first ventured-funded podcasting company in the Middle East, Columbia News Service, Telling True Stories in Sound, and others. Described as the "This American Life" of the Middle East and North Africa, Kerning Cultures Network has been featured in Radiolab, 99 Percent Invisible, This American Life, and others world-renowned podcasts. I also produced audio documentaries for clients such as the official podcasts of Expo 2020 Dubai (The World's Fair), as well as for one of the world's most listened-to podcasts: Ted Interview, and How to be a Better Human.
I also have an M.S. in journalism, with an audio focus, from Columbia University's School of Journalism. My experience there included producing for various formats such as daily news reporting, all the way to long-form narrative audio producing. During my time there I was also the President of Columbia University's local chapter of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA).
I have 10 years of experience in journalism, strategic communications, and foreign policy political analysis and research. I also co-founded the global prizewinning news site Mada Masr, described by The Guardian as "the news site keeping press freedom alive in Egypt."
My experience abroad included reporting for the Financial Times, The Guardian, and other international outlets on Egyptian politics, the criminal justice system, police violence, social movements, and resource conflicts in Nile basin countries. I also covered key events such as the trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and the post-Arab Spring 2012 and 2014 Egyptian presidential elections.
I graduated with a B.A. from the University of Toronto with a double major in Political Science and Media Studies, as well as an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS - the world's top institution for the study of the MENA region.
Audio Clips
PRODUCING or CO-PRODUCING
How to Discover Humanity through Math Ted Audio Collective, How to be a Better Human
Garry Kasparov on Chess, Technology and Democracy Ted Audio Collective, Ted Interview
Juliet Schor wants a Four-hour Work Week Ted Audio Collective, Ted Interview
Beyond Sound and Vision, Dubai Expo 2020, Inside Expo Podcast
This is Our Time, Dubai Expo 2020, Inside Expo Podcast
Creating Change through Storytelling with guest Yusuf Omar - Dubai Expo 2020, People and Planet Podcast
Beyond the Classroom with grand chessmaster Judit Polgar, Dubai Expo 2020, People and Planet Podcast
The Power of Digital Accessibility with guest Richard Thanki, Dubai Expo 2020, People and Planet Podcast
Leaving the Coptic Orthodox Church - Master's Project at Columbia University
The quest to find Nafas - Telling True Stories in Sound Podcast
The journey home through Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. - Telling True Stories in Sound Podcast
History of the minimum wage fight - Columbia News Service
The Missing Box - on not having a MENA category in the census and all forms of natiowide data collection. - Uptown Radio
HOSTING and PRODUCING
What are vaccine passports? And are they ethical? - Uptown Radio.
New York mayoral race signals political shift on Palestine and Israel. - Uptown Radio
Johnson and Johnson Vaccine receives mixed responses from the Catholic Community - Uptown Radio
Co-host - entire broadcast - Uptown Radio
Print Clips
To view my print clips, (both long-form and news) please check out this portfolio here.