Fresh Bites: NPR Show Development
Project Overview
This project was deeply personal and became one of the clearest expressions of my role as a creative strategist.
While creative directing the video podcast for NPR’s Fresh Air with Tonya Mosley, I began to notice a growing disconnect. Here was one of the most dynamic voices in journalism, yet much of her presence was confined by the traditional podcast format. A large desk. A fixed microphone. A carefully measured production designed to do everything correctly.
As I helped establish the visual system for the primary show and stayed on set to ensure a smooth handoff to the NPR team, I started paying attention to what happened before and after the official recording. The anticipation as guests arrived. The shift in energy depending on who was coming in. The way Tonya prepared herself before going live. The humor, warmth, and ease that emerged once the pressure lifted.
There was a second show unfolding in plain sight.
The Contains Humanity Philosophy in Practice
On camera, there is Tonya the journalist. Outside of it, there is Tonya the human. And that human presence was electric.
I realized there was a significant missed opportunity to capture the moments where connection and vulnerability surfaced naturally. When guests like Spike Lee arrived, there was the scheduled interview, but also real banter, laughter, and human exchange that never made it to air. That was the story I wanted to tell.
From that insight, I conceived and creative directed a new documentary format designed as an offshoot of the podcast itself. Each episode became its own short film, built to live independently or alongside the main broadcast. The intention was not to replace the original show, but to expand it and reveal the life surrounding the conversation.
This approach sits at the core of my agency, Contains Humanity. In an increasingly artificial media landscape, humanity is the new currency. My work is about finding it, protecting it, and bringing it forward.
What you see here are moments I witnessed firsthand, translated into a cinematic language that allows them to breathe. It was my way of giving the host and the show something more without increasing the bottom line, using insight and intuition rather than scale.
One of my strengths is knowing how to bridge depth and accessibility. This project reflects that philosophy in practice.
Visual System and Direction
For this format, I designed the complete visual and storytelling system from the ground up, including identity, environment, camera language, lighting, and tone. Traditional podcast setups often trap people behind equipment and protocol. This format intentionally removed those barriers to let personality, nuance, and presence come forward.
The result is a show built around intimacy rather than performance, and connection rather than structure.
This work also marked one of the first projects developed under Contains Humanity, a creative studio founded on the belief that the strongest stories honor the human being at the center.