Jonathan P. Smith

Jonathan was born in Monsey, New York. A field trip to Washington, DC when he was in 7th grade started him on his circuitous path to a career in public radio. The trip inspired a love of politics and led to his desire to one day call DC home. After graduating from Grinnell College, he worked on a couple of campaigns in Iowa (presidential and congressional) and moved to Washington, DC.

After failing to find work as the president's chief of staff or as a highly paid lobbyist, he took a job parking cars next to Ford's Theatre. (To this day it remains one of his favorite jobs). From parking cars he moved on to doing energy/regulatory work at a few law firms. However, once he realized he wouldn't be promoted to lawyer, he decided to pursue a career in public radio.

Thanks to the kindness of a staffer on The Diane Rehm Show, he began as a volunteer with that nationally-syndicated NPR program and worked his way up to full-time producer. After nine years with The Diane Rehm Show, he moved to New Hampshire to be the Executive Producer of New Hampshire Public Radio's Word of Mouth. In the Fall of 2010, he joined the Maine Public Broadcasting Network to help launch it's new, interactive radio program Maine Calling.

When not producing radio programs, Jonathan spends his time with his wonderful wife and their two young sons. He also likes to play golf, and tries his best not to injure himself while playing pickup football and basketball games with much younger players.