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An early innovator who has helped shape the podcast and public radio industries, Jake Shapiro is the co-founder and CEO of RadioPublic, a mobile listening platform and marketplace for podcasts.

RadioPublic is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) - founded in partnership with PRX and backed by investors including Project11, The New York Times, WGBH, and Bose Corporation - with the mission to help listeners discover, engage with, and reward the creators of podcasts. Shapiro co-founded and is the former CEO of PRX, the award-winning distributor of independent audio content, including This American Life, The Moth Radio Hour and the Radiotopia podcast network. While at PRX Shapiro also helped found Matter Ventures, the accelerator and investment fund for mission-driven startups. Shapiro is a senior fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and a fellow at Ashoka, the global network of social entrepreneurs.

Shapiro has been featured in leading media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Fortune and the Boston Globe, and shares his insights as a featured speaker at Internet and media industry events. Shapiro is an accomplished musician on guitar and cello, with numerous independent and major label recording appearances. He holds a BA in History and Literature from Harvard University, and lives in Lexington MA.


Projects & Tools

Public Radio Exchange

The Public Radio Exchange is an online marketplace for distribution, review, and licensing of public radio programming.

Past

Internet Radio Initiatives

We are engaged in three initiatives to explore new possibilities in Internet radio: Whole Wide World, the Berkman Radio Project, and the Public Radio Exchange.

Media Re:public

Media Re:public is a research project that examines the current and potential impact of participatory news media.


Publications

Dec 18, 2008

Media Re:public: News and Information as Digital Media Come of Age

Overview paper, issues, case studies

A series of papers exploring the potential and the challenges of the emerging networked digital media environment.


News

Mar 16, 2011

Harnessing technology for social good

[updated April 11]

Last month the Ford Foundation hosted the Wired for Change conference, and a pack of Berkman Center folks, friends, and family were in New York for the event. Ford has posted full…

News
Apr 10, 2008

Congratulations, Public Radio Exchange!

PRX wins MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions

With great pleasure, the Berkman Center congratulates the Public Radio Exchange for winning the MacArthur Foundation’s 2008 Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, along…


Events

Event
Nov 3, 2009 @ 12:30 PM

From Broadcast to Broadband: Redesigning public media for the 21st Century

Ellen Goodman of Rutgers University School of Law & Jake Shapiro, Executive Director, Public Radio Exchange (PRX)

Ellen and Jake Shapiro lead a discussion on how within the broader story of media transformation generally, there’s an important role played by public broadcasting as it also…

Event Series

Beyond Broadcast 2007: From Participatory Culture to Participatory Democracy

For 50 years broadcast media have played a powerful role in shaping political culture and mediating citizen engagement in the democratic process. Now a participatory culture is…

Event
May 17, 2005 @ 12:30 PM

On Public Media

Jake Shapiro, Berkman Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 5/17/05 - Jake Shapiro, et al, on Public Media. Jake Shapiro and colleagues from the Public Radio Exchange will discuss public media at today's Berkman…

Event
Nov 23, 2004 @ 12:30 PM

The Public Radio Exchange

Jake Shapiro, Berkman Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 11/23/04 - Jake Shapiro of the Public Radio Exchange

Event
Apr 29, 2003 @ 12:30 PM

The Public Radio Exchange (2003)

Jake Shapiro, Berkman Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 4/29/03 - Jake Shapiro on the Public Radio Exchange