Jay Allison

Jay Allison is the Founder and Executive Producer of WCAI. He one of public radio’s most honored producers and has won virtually every major industry award, including six Peabodys. Over the last thirty-five years, he has independently produced hundreds of documentaries and features for radio and television. He is currently produces The Moth Radio Hour and, before that, was the host and curator of This I Believe on NPR, and co-edited the best-selling books based on that series.Jay is the Executive Director of WCAI’s production partner, Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, and with APM he co-created the acclaimed websites Transom.org, which helps people tell their own stories, and the Public Radio Exchange (prx.org), which helps get those stories on the radio. With his friends the Kitchen Sisters, Jay co-produced the NPR series Lost & Found Sound, the post-9/11 Sonic Memorial Project, and Hidden Kitchens. On WCAI, Jay hosts the Sunday night program, Arts & Ideas, and with the team at Atlantic Public Media he edits the series, Creative Life, The Local Food Report, One Species at a Time, and other local projects, including the Sonic IDs, the interstitial community vignettes, which have served as a model for other public radio stations around the country. Jay is married to the media producer, Melissa Allison, and has lived in Woods Hole for 25 years. He has five children. He likes to fish and ride vehicles with two wheels. His favorite cephalopod is squid.