Sonia Paul is an award-winning journalist, writer, producer and investigative researcher.

Her work focuses on how people navigate systems of power that seek to define them, examining the tensions and transformations that emerge in new environments. She combines independent journalism and investigative research with her role at KALW Public Media’s Uncuffed, an audio training program and podcast about life before, during and after incarceration. At Uncuffed, she teaches audio storytelling at California’s Solano State Prison, produces Uncuffed’s acclaimed podcast and strategizes media partnerships.

As an independent journalist, Sonia’s reporting has appeared in Wired, Harper’s, Mother Jones, BBC World Service, 99% Invisible and two dozen other outlets, earning awards from SPJ NorCal, San Francisco Press Club, Religion News Association and South Asian Journalists Association. Her media appearances include Vox’s Today Explained, NPR’s Here & Now and KQED’s Forum. She is currently developing her second podcast, supported by California Humanities.

Previously, Sonia was named a “Rising Star” and a senior fellow with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. She has received several grants and fellowships to support her work, including from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and the International Women’s Media Foundation. She’s also attended residencies at the Mesa Refuge and St. Mary’s Storyboard to pursue her longterm projects.

Based in California’s Bay Area, Sonia launched her journalism career freelancing in India. She also created, hosted and produced the grant-funded podcast Shizuoka Speaks while teaching English in Japan. She graduated with honors from UCLA and Columbia Journalism School, and studied at Columbia as an Anne O’Hare McCormick Scholar. Her personal podcast/newsletter is Loitering. 

Bylines: Wired, Harper’s, Mother Jones, Alta, Vox, The Atlantic, National Geographic, Politico Magazine, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, NPR, The New York Times, The Guardian, Religion News Service, Studio 360, 70 Million, BBC World Service, 99% Invisible, VICE News, Newsweek Europe, The Caravan, San Francisco Public Press, The Juggernaut, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, KQED, KALW, PRI, Roads & Kingdom, and more

Media appearances: Vox’s Today Explained, NPR’s Here & Now, KQED’s Forum, KQED’s The Bay, KALW’s Crosscurrents, The Grand Tamasha, Marketplace, WNYC’s The Takeaway, Our Body Politic, KWMR

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