Michael May is the senior producer of the NPR Story Lab. In this role, he works with newsroom staff to pitch and produce innovative projects, including podcasts, videos, web stories, and new series for broadcast.
Before coming to NPR in 2015, May was no newcomer to radio. He got hooked on producing radio in 1998 when he went to Moscow in search of Oleg Lundstrem, the lone jazz musician that continued to perform during the Stalin years. The resulting story aired on All Things Considered. Since then, May has been a daily news reporter at KUT, an editor at Weekend America and Latitude News, a managing editor for the Texas Observer, a contributing producer for WBUR’s iLab, and, most recently, a radio instructor at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
May has won a Third Coast Audio Festival Gold Award, three National Headliners Awards (including one Grand Prize award), and two Edward R. Murrow awards for his radio work.
May graduated from Grinnell College with a bachelor of arts in history. He plays guitar, was a founding member of Austin’s Minor Mishap Marching Band, and enjoys biking, kayaking, and skiing.