Tessa Kramer
“I believe that having women in leadership roles (both on and off the mic) is critical to the success of the podcast industry going forward.”
Tessa Kramer
Tessa is a reporter, producer, and narrative storyteller. Her work spans narrative podcasts, documentary films, TV segments, and multimedia projects.
She got her start working on two documentaries: The Vietnam War, directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, and CNN's Death Row Stories. These formative experiences sparked her passion for exploring history, culture, and the criminal justice system through long-form storytelling. Tessa’s reporting has taken her around the world, covering everything from Japan’s declining birth rate to paleoanthropological research in South Africa. Closer to home, she’s investigated cold cases and con artists, and produced Spotify’s Webby Award-winning podcast An Oral History of The Office.
In 2019, Tessa earned a master's degree from Columbia Journalism School, in a program for experienced journalists looking to specialize in political and social issues. Her master's thesis – an investigation into misconduct by a former Virginia crime lab analyst – won an award for continued reporting on a subject in the public interest.
In 2023, Tessa released the story as a 12-part podcast called Admissible: Shreds of Evidence. The series was named an Editor’s Pick on Spotify, and won several awards including a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, the Signal Award for Best Documentary Podcast, the NETA Public Media Award for Best Podcast, and a Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) Award for Best Narrative Podcast. Tessa received the Excellence in Journalism Award from the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association for her reporting. Admissible has prompted the enactment of new legislation and an ongoing review of more than 4,000 criminal cases in Virginia.
Tessa is speaking on the Investigative Podcasts Panel alongside Poonam Teneja and Julia Robson.