Karen Fritsche Producer, AirTalk

Karen Fritsche is a producer for AirTalk with Larry Mantle.

She joined the show in 2009 and has taken the lead on many of AirTalk’s most ambitious programs including specials on Hollywood film music, homeschooling, food trucks, political debates and their three-hour live show from Phoenix about Arizona’s immigration bill SB 1070, which earned KPCC a Golden Mike and LA Press Club Award.

Previously, Fritsche was a freelance producer for many of KPCC’s shows, as well as APM’s national program Weekend America. Her radio reporting has been featured on public radio stations coast-to-coast. She has also written print pieces for LA Weekly, Pasadena Weekly and the Los Angeles Downtown News.

Fritsche started out in radio at KPFK. She did her first interview for the show Uprising! The subject of that interview died on the phone with her, which led to the 28-minute radio documentary called “The Day Fannie Brown Died.”

Fritsche is a native of Los Angeles and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Occidental College, where she graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa

When she’s not making radio, Fritsche spends her time cooking, writing, taking pictures and wanderlusting. She lives with her longtime partner Allen Mezquida and a cat she’d like to trade in for a dog. All trades final.

Stories by Karen Fritsche