Shelter in Place podcast // press kit
// Introduction
Tagline: reimagining life through creativity and community
Genres: narrative nonfiction, personal journal, interview
Availability: iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen
Website: shelterinplacepodcast.org
Social: @shelterinplacepodcast (IG);
@podcastshelter (Twitter)
// Summary
Shelter in Place is an award-winning, nonfiction narrative podcast from writer Laura Joyce Davis. An artful blend of personal essays and well-edited interviews, Shelter in Place the inviting home where we reimagine life through creativity and community.
Podcast keywords: woman-hosted, personal journal, narrative nonfiction, interview, creativity, society & culture, parenting.
// Writer & host
Before writing and producing 170+ episodes of Shelter in Place and founding the Kasama Collective podcast training program, Laura Joyce Davis was an award-winning fiction writer, a WNYC Podcast Accelerator finalist, Fulbright scholar, Poets & Writers Exchange Award winner, and two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She's been interviewed by Emerging Form, Out There, and many others. Laura’s full bio
International Women’s Podcast Awards winner
Our episode “An Affront to Zeus” won the category “Changing the World a moment at a time.” The show, from Skylark Collective, attracted hundreds of entries from 13 countries.
// News & awards
Shelter in Place, and our training program Kasama Collective, have been recognized for audio, storytelling, and mission:
// Laura was named to Podcast Magazine’s list of “22 influencers for 2022,” alongside many household names and big execs.
// Our Kasama Collective intensive training program is a finalist at the 2022 Social Impact Awards.
// Season two episode “Hyphenated Identity” received an honorable mention at the 2021 Golden Crane Awards.
// Shelter in Place S2 episode, “An Affront to Zeus,” won the “changing the world one moment at a time” category at the International Women’s Podcast Awards.
// Shelter in Place is a finalist for the Descript Studio Sound awards (2021).
// Laura has been featured in interviews with Out There, Future Hindsight, The Pod Broads, Lane Change, Emerging Form, @Sea, Pat & JT, and elsewhere.
// The five-minute trailer she produced for her previous podcast project, MisInformed, was a finalist for WNYC’s podcast accelerator contest in 2019. The project was also a finalist for a 2020 Fulbright Senior Scholarship to Mexico.
// In college, Laura’s song earned recognition on the “Best of College a Capella compilation album.
// Top 1% of all active podcasts //
— Chartable, March 2022
// Team
Sarah Edgell // Design Director
Broad career spanning interior, textile, graphic, & web design
Major clients include Denver Symphony, Mizel Museum, Babi Yar Park, and ColonTown
Chief hiker, cheerful dissenter, cabin designer, chihuahua handler
Nate Davis // Creative Director
15-year advertising survivor with occasional writing awards
In-house writing experience from tech to construction to insurance
Brand definer, episode editor, road biker, Covid-mullet grower
Melissa Lent // project manager
Winter 2021 Kasama Collective training program grad; co-writer for award-winning “hyphenated identity”
Current day job as multimedia specialist at the Center for an Urban Future
Polyglot, lifetime New Yorker, exceptional smile-giver.
// Trailers
Season three promo: escape into life
How can we reimagine life through creativity and community?
How do we search for home in a world forever changed?
Whether we’re talking about our planet or our place of residence, all of us long for joy, rest, beauty, and belonging—but finding our way there isn’t always simple or easy. Join us for season three as we learn together how to escape not out of life, but into it.
// Season two promo video & Shelter in Place origin story
In a time when the only constant is change, we long to find purpose and connection--but not another reason to be on our screens. With a musician's ear, a writer's pen, and a voice that invites you in, we examine life's timely events and timeless questions. Through open-hearted personal essays and authentic conversations, Season 2 followed the Davis family on a pandemic Odyssey across a divided nation, seeking not just safety, but a place that everyone can call home.
// Testimonials
“Bingeworthy! Shelter in Place is a truly lovely listen! Laura is a fantastic writer, and although the subject matter is complex, I find myself relaxed listening to her tell stories. This podcast covers a wide range of timely topics, and is creative, entertaining, engaging, and relatable. I highly recommend it!”
—Taylor Leigh Fraser
Emmy-winning journalist;
Host, Foreward podcast
“Shelter in Place is a podcast that really matters. I loved how thoughtful and contemplative and curious and wonder-full Laura Davis is in her musings. And yes, authentic. And so, so human. Both practical and philosophical—I love this podcast.”
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Celebrated poet
Cohost, Emerging Form podcast
Season one, episode 50 guest
“Fascinating and entertaining; a softer voice bringing out the points, non-judgmental, letting the story breathe…. As you so eloquently said, we are common travelers trying to find common ground and a healing place.”
—Neil Pinkham
Chief Operating Officer, Able Shepherd
Season two, episode 5 guest
“What I love most about Shelter in Place are the ways in which Davis draws us into her world by painting vivid scenes and dialogue, reflecting on the larger meaning of a run through the woods or an embarrassing moment when her kids steal plums off a neighbor's tree.”
“She weaves those personal stories into the larger context of what we are all going through: the pandemic, the divided country, the racial protests, climate change. Amazingly, none of this is forced; listen closely and you'll hear the memoirist, the novelist, guiding it all with a very skilled hand.”
—Elaine Grant
Partner, Podcast Allies
Producer, Business Wars Daily
“Shelter in Place is a podcast that captures so many resonant feelings, challenges and experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic. After a few episodes, Laura Joyce Davis felt like an old friend. Even during the darkest moments, she always finds a glimmer of genuine hope. She’s a thoughtful and generous host, and is the reason Shelter in Place has become one of my favorite podcasts.”
—Christie Aschwanden
Bestselling author of Good to Go;
Cohost, Emerging Form podcast
“Each episode strikes the perfect balance of being both grounding and thought provoking. By bringing her whole self to each episode, being honest and vulnerable about life's challenges, Laura helps me feel less alone in my experiences and struggles in a world that is increasingly difficult to navigate. I am a better coach as a result of time listening to Shelter in Place, and am extremely grateful for that.”
—Jesselle Miura
Leadership coach,
JM Squared Consulting
“Laura's Shelter in Place podcast brings the intimacy and connection we want into the storytelling space of our shared virtual reality. Each episode highlights our humanity through intimate conversations that reflect the lovingkindness needed to heal our society.”
—Edissa Nicolás-Huntsman
Writer & Founder, Karma Compass
Season one, episode 93 guest
“The pandemic has put all of us in very painful realities that many of us didn’t know how to handle. What the pandemic has also done is provide a space for fresh voices to arise and teach us creative, wholesome, and charitable ways to come together in deep and meaningful ways.
Shelter in Place has become its own mental shelter where I find fresh courage to press on and live an expansive life of care and empathy to myself, the people I love, and the communities I live in.”
—Muoki Musau
Realtor, theologian //
Season one, episode 67 guest
“Shelter in Place provides a cozy audio space for thoughtful respite and reflection. Laura Joyce Davis’ engaging narration is reminiscent of writer Cheryl Strayed, her interviews with intriguing individuals from across the thought spectrum calling to mind iconic radio hosts like Terry Gross and Anna Sale. Shelter in Place is a must-listen!”
—Georgia Wright
Host, Inherited podcast
Season two, episode 6 guest
“I had the pleasure of being interviewed on this amazing podcast! Immediately, I felt at home as if I was talking with an old friend. Laura Davis is truly pushing the ball forward with honesty, thoughtfulness and a genuine desire to highlight subject matters that run the gamut. Highly recommended and it was an honor to be a part of this sweet space.”
—Miko Marks
Acclaimed musician
Season one, episode 65 guest
// Reviews
☆☆☆☆☆ “An uplifting fusion of art and honesty, full of insights into our strange cultural moment.” —jsk75gate
☆☆☆☆☆ “If the story doesn’t get you, her voice will.” —jojofrat
☆☆☆☆☆ “Her podcast brilliantly makes the case for why art, and not just doctors, will save us.” —allisonhoward08
☆☆☆☆☆ “Telling genuine stories with heart, Laura is a joy to listen to.” —Racqustar
☆☆☆☆☆ “The best of what podcasting can be: easy enough to consume length-wise, but challenging to digest internally because it rearranges your mental maps of the world.” —eduszynski
☆☆☆☆☆ “This podcast is restorative in a way that a call to a good friend can be” —KatieQuirk
☆☆☆☆☆ “A daily reminder of how our fragile, grubby hands can hold hope” —J. Sheedy
☆☆☆☆☆ “Thoughtful reflection, relevant research and writing, and a refreshing perspective on these challenging times.” —JesselleM
☆☆☆☆☆ “A quick, intimate cross between TED talks and Chicken Soup for the Soul” —Donovan101
Read the other 60+ reviews on iTunes.
// Details
Download & subscribe: on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms, or on our website.
Email: hello@shelterinplacepodcast.org
Social: @shelterinplacepodcast (IG)
@shelterinplacepodcast (FB)
@PodcastShelter (Twitter)
Schedule: season two and three episodes are weekly on Thursdays, with occasional bonus episodes. Season one episodes were every weekday.
// Images
Shelter in Place podcast
// season three logo
Download logos: 16x9 // square // widescreen
Shelter in Place podcast
// season two logo
Download logos: 16x9 // square // widescreen
Shelter in Place podcast
// season one logo
Download logos: 16x9 // square // widescreen
Laura Joyce Davis
// writer + host
Logo artwork designed by Sarah Edgell.
Laura Joyce Davis // voice talent
Now that you’ve learned a bit about Shelter in Place, we hope you’re inspired learn how to make the next great scripted podcast: yours!
Sign up for our Labs Weekender narrative podcasting course, and you’ll find not just your literal voice, but your artistic one. What sets this course apart is that it includes all the key elements of a narrative podcasting toolkit: scriptwriting, audio editing, interviewing, sound design, budgeting, project management, and production — but also key activities and exercises for discovering your creative personality, determining creative boundaries, and articulating why you want to create in the first place. See course details.