Simon Adler

What I Do

I’m a senior producer and correspondent at Longview.

My days are split between research, editing, composing original scores, and a lot of listening, all in service of turning complicated ideas into comprehensible, compelling stories.

For the past twelve years, I've covered everything from trophy hunting to the history of Chinese computing to the cassette tape. Along the way, I made a deepfake of Obama (before Jordan Peele), produced, performed, and toured a live show across the country, and reported from five of our seven continents. I love working with sound, and I'm endlessly interested in how the tools we make end up making us.

Before Longview, I was a senior producer/correspondent at Radiolab, a fellow at This American Life, and a freelancer living in Caracas, Venezuela.

My Background

If my memory serves me, the first time I was asked the proverbial “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the answer was, “An astronaut.” Later, it became a drawer. Then a guy who makes television commercials. In high school, I was certain I’d be a professional jazz saxophone player. In college, I jumped from humanitarian aid worker to psychotherapist to indie rock musician. I ended up being a storyteller.

I am originally from Wisconsin, went to college in Oregon, and have spent the past dozen years in New York. Outside of work, I love to run, travel, and make music/art under the moniker W I N D S T A R.

My Ethics

I believe my job is to listen more than I talk. And I want nothing more than to understand and be understood. I consider myself a compassionate pragmatist.

Contact Me

You can reach me at simon.donald.adler@gmail.com