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The Podcast
Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good is the podcast for people who make progress — people who aren’t just talking about making the world better, but actually getting it done. The show features interviews with leading social innovators from across the United States and around the world. Sometimes we do live events as well, including our Saving Democracy series.
Your Host: Spencer Critchley
Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good Spencer Critchley is an award-winning writer, producer, and communications consultant with experience in broadcasting, film, digital media, public relations, advertising, and music. He is the author of Patriots of Two Nations: Why Trump Was Inevitable and What Happens Next, and the managing partner of Boots Road Group LLC, an advertising, public relations and digital media firm that serves people who are making the world a better place.
As a communication consultant, Spencer has worked for both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, former Congressman Sam Farr, the U.S. Department of Labor, the University of California at Berkeley, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and many others.
As a digital media producer, his clients have included David Bowie, Moby, Santana, Britney Spears, and others while he was with Thomas Dolby’s Beatnik Inc; the Silicon Graphics-Time Warner-ATT interactive TV system; Silicon Gaming; and the multiple award-winning Choosing Success multimedia program for CCC/Viacom, described by Wired magazine as “the most inspired piece of educational software ever created.”
As a journalist, Spencer reported stories for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and others, winning awards for investigative reporting from Public Radio News Directors Inc. and the Associated Press. For CBC Radio, he was a correspondent and guest host for the national entertainment and popular culture show “Prime Time,” the host of the syndicated “Canada Rocks” record review, and a contributor to “The Entertainers” and other programs. He has written for Business Insider, HuffPost, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Toronto Star, and other publications.
As a composer and music producer, Spencer was signed to a songwriting and artist development contract with Warner-Chappell Music Publishing, created music for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation including for the Peabody Award-winning radio drama “Paris from Wilde to Morrison,” and composed the score (with collaborator Marco D’Ambrosio) and produced the music, dialog, and sound design for the Emmy-winning PBS documentary “Blink.”
Spencer is an adjunct lecturer in Journalism for the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He has been a guest speaker for Stanford University’s documentary film program; New York University; Art Center College of Design; California State University Monterey Bay; the American Constitution Society; MacWorld; Intel Developer World; Interpret America; the New Teacher Center, the California Association of Public Information Officials and the SXSW, Hot Springs, and Bermuda Film Festivals, among others.
He has been interviewed or quoted by ABC News, the AP, Bloomberg Radio, the CBC, CBS Radio, CBS Radio, the Christian Science Monitor, CTV News, Fox News, The Hill, ITV (UK), the LA Times, NBC, NPR, The Saturday Evening Post, Sky News (UK), USA Today, and others.