Brian Reed

United States · Host and co-creator, Question Everything · Co-founder, Placement Theory

Career

Brian Reed is an audio journalist and podcast host who spent the first decade of his career as a producer and reporter at This American Life, where he eventually ran the program, before co-creating two major podcast series with Serial Productions — S-Town (2017) and The Trojan Horse Affair (2022) — and launching Question Everything in 2024 as a co-production between his own studio, Placement Theory, and KCRW in Santa Monica. He has won two Peabody Awards.

S-Town, released in March 2017, was a seven-part audio documentary about John B. McLemore, an eccentric clockmaker in Woodstock, Alabama, who wrote to Reed asking him to investigate what he believed was a murder cover-up in his town. The series, co-created with Serial Productions, was downloaded more than 100 million times and generated widespread critical attention — as well as significant ethical criticism for its detailed disclosure of McLemore's private life, including his sexuality, at a time when McLemore had died before the podcast's release. An Australian journalist called it "morally indefensible" in a 2017 Guardian piece; a group of Alabama lawyers filed a lawsuit against Reed claiming S-Town was not journalism. Reed spent years contesting that claim, a process that led directly to the premise of Question Everything.

In 2022, Reed co-hosted and executive produced The Trojan Horse Affair — an eight-part investigative podcast produced with Serial Productions and The New York Times — alongside journalism student Hamza Syed. The series investigated who authored a mysterious letter that triggered a major controversy in Birmingham, England in 2014, alleging an Islamist plot to take over schools. Critics praised the series for the dynamic between Reed, a veteran journalist, and Syed, a newcomer reporting his first major story.

Question Everything, which launched in September 2024, is a biweekly podcast co-produced by Placement Theory — the studio Reed co-founded with fellow This American Life veteran Robyn Semien — and KCRW. It uses the tools of journalism to examine journalism itself: how the truth gets buried, distorted, and denied; what news coverage is actually achieving; and whether journalists are listening to the public. The first episode opened with the Australian journalist who called S-Town morally indefensible. Reed has described the show as "me having a midlife career crisis as a journalist." Reed is also currently executive producing television adaptations of both S-Town and The Trojan Horse Affair.

Key Works

Question Everything (2024–present)

Biweekly podcast · co-production of Placement Theory and KCRW · host and co-creator · explores journalism ethics, media accountability, and press freedom · distributed via NPR · Substack newsletter companion (2,000+ subscribers)

S-Town (2017)

Serial Productions · 7 episodes · 100M+ downloads · Peabody Award · subject: John B. McLemore, Alabama clockmaker and polymath · generated sustained ethical debate about disclosure of private information in audio journalism

The Trojan Horse Affair (2022)

Serial Productions / The New York Times · 8 episodes · co-hosted with Hamza Syed · investigated the anonymous "Trojan Horse" letter alleging an Islamist plot in Birmingham, England schools (2014) · co-produced with journalism student Syed, who was reporting his first major story

This American Life

Producer and reporter for more than a decade · eventually ran the program · developed longform audio documentary and narrative journalism craft that informs all subsequent work

Placement Theory

Co-founded with Robyn Semien (This American Life) · independent production company · Question Everything is its debut release

TV adaptations (in development)

Executive producing television adaptations of both S-Town and The Trojan Horse Affair (as of 2025)

Recognition

2026

Webby Award — Question Everything

Two-part series "Rümeysa Öztürk is Locked Up for an Op-ed."

2026

Ambie Award — Question Everything

Two-part series "Blindfolded and Arrested on Assignment in Israel."

2025

Signal Awards — Question Everything (4 awards including Special Achievement Award)

Special Achievement Award for "pushing the boundaries of journalism itself." Episode "A Mystery in Marion" named one of Apple Podcasts Best of 2025.

2024

Hark — One of the Best New Podcasts of 2024

For Question Everything at launch.

2017

Peabody Award — S-Town

For the S-Town podcast with Serial Productions. One of two Peabody Awards Reed has received.

Brian Reed · Host and Co-creator, Question Everything · Co-founder, Placement Theory

Question Everything at KCRW: kcrw.com/shows/question-everything

Newsletter / Substack: questioneverything.substack.com

Speaker representation: Steven Barclay Agency · barclayagency.com/speakers/brian-reed