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Photo by Marcus Branch
It’s the knot you can’t untangle — a problem so specific, it makes you feel alone. But what if you could talk to someone who gets it? On Proxy, we investigate emotional mysteries by finding someone who's lived something close enough, or by reporting from the emotions beat.
Because these conversations can be tender, we take consent, care, and boundaries seriously. Read our ethics policy here.
We'll be back with new cases this fall — and we'll be dropping a few treats in the feed this summer.
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Team
Proxy is made by a tiny, but mighty team: one full-time journalist and a handful of trusted collaborators.
Host/Creator/Executive Producer
Yowei is the full-time host, producer, and emotional investigative journalist at Proxy. In her previous life, she spent many years making NPR's Invisibilia. Her current niche emotional conundrum is desperately wanting to put her feet up on the windshield in the passenger seat, but knowing now that it is not safe.
Editor
Tim Howard
Tim is a story editor and musician. He previously was editor & creative director at Reply All, and a reporter/producer at Radiolab. He has lived in Berlin since 2018.
Mixing Engineer/Bedraggled Podcast Spouse
When Kyle is not mastering Proxy late at night, he's producing records and running Headroom Studios, where he's worked with such artists as Dr. Dog, Alex G, Hop Along, Jay Som, and many others. His niche emotional conundrum is yearning for the open road of tour and sleeping on strangers' couches.
Proxy Scout
Rennie Svirnovskiy
Rennie is a freelance podcast producer and engineer. They're currently helping make Proxy, NPR's The Sunday Story, and Lost Women of Science. Before that, they spent seven years at The Washington Post, producing daily news on Post Reports — with a year-long break to make the Post's Peabody Award-winning investigative podcast, "The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop." Rennie's niche emotional conundrum is not knowing who they are without medication — but also, why do they need to know?