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Kerry Thompson Kerry Thompson is an audio producer at NPR.
Kerry Thompson, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC.
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Kerry Thompson

Kerry Thompson, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC.
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Mike Morgan/NPR
Kerry Thompson, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC.
Mike Morgan/NPR

Kerry Thompson

Producer

Kerry Thompson has won two Peabody awards and one DuPont Columbia award for her work as an audio producer. She currently serves as the producer of Planet Money and How I Built This at NPR in Washington, DC. She produced and hosted "Playback," one of NPR's original podcasts, and has helped develop and produce many NPR broadcast specials. Thompson has also created award winning audio collections for NPR Consumer Products, and produced the NPR History Lobby Exhibit at NPR headquarters in DC.

A graduate of Northwestern University's School of Communication, Thompson also enjoys singing and performing – preferably onstage.

Story Archive

Leatherman Tool Group: Tim Leatherman
Scott Everett for NPR

How I Built This

Leatherman Tool Group: Tim Leatherman

Most entrepreneurs expect it will take at least a few years for their businesses to gain traction. But Tim Leatherman waited 7 years to make a single, $175 sale. In the late 1970s, he had set up shop in his brother-in-law's garage, scavenged some metal from old appliances, and built a tool that he'd dreamed up a few years before: a foldable pair of pliers with several other tools tucked into the handles. Tim worked for years trying to market his design to knife and tool companies, but none of them were interested. Was it a tool? A gadget? A knife? Eventually he was able to convince mail-order catalogs to sell the tool; and within the space of a decade, he went from selling a single knife to a million every year. Today Tim's company is worth over a $100 million and his last name has become a household brand: the Leatherman.

Leatherman Tool Group: Tim Leatherman

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Stasher and Modern Twist: Kat Nouri
Scott Everett for NPR

How I Built This

Stasher and Modern Twist: Kat Nouri

As a mother of three, Kat Nouri was dismayed at the amount of single-use plastic she was using to pack her kids' school lunches. She had already launched a successful brand called Modern Twist, which sold placemats and baby bibs made of silicone. So Kat wondered: why not use silicone to make durable food storage bags, which—instead of being used once, could be used thousands of times? In 2016 she launched Stasher, and was soon persuading retailers that an $11 reusable bag was better for the planet—and ultimately, more cost-effective for the big-box shopper. Kat successfully sold the brand to S.C. Johnson just a few years after launch, but her short tenure at Stasher's helm was marked by growing pains and gnawing moments of anxiety, including an unexpected scuffle with the sharks on Shark Tank.

Stasher and Modern Twist: Kat Nouri

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50 And Forward: An Anniversary Celebration Of NPR

On May 3, 2021, NPR turns 50 years old. To mark this milestone, we're reflecting on and renewing our commitment to Hear Every Voice. Spencer Gabor hide caption

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Spencer Gabor

50 Years Of NPR

50 And Forward: An Anniversary Celebration Of NPR

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of NPR's first on-air broadcast, we look back at our origins in radio, how we grew from a staff of 65 to thousands, and into our future in the digital space.

50 And Forward: An Anniversary Celebration Of NPR

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