JIM METZNER
Producer
PULSE OF THE PLANET

"Jim Metzner makes the natural world an interesting place, even for a city kid like me. He makes the natural world into a neighborhood--a place that teams with interesting sounds and fascinating characters. I'm glad we have him on our show, and I know that our listeners consider his appearances as refreshing as a weekend in the country."
-- Scott Simon

At first meeting, the soft voice and button-down shirts don't bring to mind a world traveler, an award-winning broadcaster, a prolific writer and photographer. But Jim Metzner, one soon finds out, is bubbling with ideas – and brimming with the energy to make them happen. He's producer and host of a radio series heard daily in more than 30 countries, a frequent guest and contributor on NPR's news programs, author of a book and CD of wondrous explorations in sound, and columnist and editor for a small brood of magazines. 

 Metzner began his broadcasting career producing You're Hearing Boston for CBS-owned  WEEI-FM (1979-80) and You're Hearing San Francisco for  NBC-owned KYUU-FM (1982).  He followed those with the nationally syndicated radio series You're Hearing America (1983-84), a daily sound portrait of American characters, celebrations and little known institutions, and Sounds of Science (1985 - 88), a radio exposition of technology and the universe.

Metzner has produced dozens of features for public radio heard on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and Public Radio International's Marketplace, The World and The Savvy Traveler.  He has appeared many times as a commentator on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.

Metzner's twenty year career as a radio producer has garnered him two Gabriel Awards and numerous broadcast honors from the International Radio Festival of New York, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the National Society of Professional Engineers, the United Nations, and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB).

Metzner is best known as the producer of Pulse of the Planet, (begun in 1990), a daily short format series currently sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Like all of Metzner's work, Pulse of the Planet artfully combines remarkable recordings of natural sounds and cultural events to bring us closer to our world.  Pulse is heard each day by nearly one million people on over 300 public and commercial stations in the US and abroad.  Pulse of the Planet is on the Web at www.pulseplanet.com, and is also available in streaming audio on National Geographic Online at www.nationalgeographic.com
In 1994, The Nature Company published Pulse of the Planet, a CD/book written and recorded by Metzner, which combines sound, text and photographs.  He has also produced audio books for Parabola Magazine and Simon and Schuster, and contributed features, articles and reviews for Nautilus, Parabola, Wired and World Art magazines.

Metzner has produced radio programming for the Asia Society and the American Museum of Natural History, spoken about radio in Japan and Germany, and conducted radio and sound recording workshops in colleges and universities around the U.S. Much of his work has also been heard overseas on FM Tokyo, and WDR in Koln, Germany.

When not crossing the globe for sounds and stories, Jim Metzner lives in Westchester County, NY, with his wife Dolores and their two children, Sarah and Lucas.