Emily Hanford
Senior Correspondent and Producer, APM Reports
Meet Emily Hanford
Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer for APM Reports and host of Sold a Story, the groundbreaking investigative podcast changing how kids are taught to read.
Emily’s career in journalism began with an internship at the public radio station in her college town, WFCR Amherst. She moved to Chicago in the 1990s and worked with Ira Glass on the pilots for the show that became “This American Life.” Emily then became a reporter, news host and acting news director at WBEZ Chicago, covering religion, health and other issues. She moved to North Carolina to become news director and later a senior editor of special projects at WUNC Chapel Hill. Emily came to American Public Media in 2008 to cover education for the documentary program, “American RadioWorks.” In 2015, the American RadioWorks team became part of APM Reports, the company's documentary and investigative reporting team.
“Sold a Story” was one of the most-shared shows on Apple Podcasts in 2023 and one of Time Magazine’s top three podcasts of the year. In her more than 30 years as a journalist, Emily's work has garnered many of the industry's top honors, including two duPont-Columbia Awards, a national Edward R. Murrow Award and a Peabody nomination. Her reporting on education has won numerous awards, including the inaugural Public Service Award from the Education Writers Association and the award for excellence in reporting on education research from the American Educational Research Association. She is a member of the Journalist Advisory Board of the Education Writers Association and journalist-in-residence at Planet Word, the museum of words and language in Washington, D.C.
Emily graduated from Amherst College, where she studied English and American studies. Emily is based in Washington, D.C. She and her husband have two adult sons. Her favorite spot is sunset on Corn Hill Beach in Truro, Mass., on Cape Cod.