Who We Are
Tradeoffs started with a simple idea: There are no silver bullets in health care. Dan Gorenstein learned this covering the business of health care at the public radio show Marketplace. Economists, physicians and researchers taught him even the most well-intentioned plans to fix issues like unaffordable insurance, high prescription drug prices and inequitable care for marginalized patients carried risk and unintended consequences. He struggled to fit all that nuance and complexity into his short radio stories.
He thought a show that examined research, outlined policy pros and cons and chronicled how policy impacted spending and people could help folks on Main Street, Wall Street and Capitol Hill have smarter, more honest conversations about health policy. In the fall of 2019, Dan and University of Pennsylvania community health expert Courtney Summers launched Tradeoffs, a show that tells intellectually engaging, emotionally resonant stories about the complicated, costly and often counterintuitive world of health care.
Learn more about our team members below and check out our media kit for more information about producers’ expertise and media appearances. If you’re interested in having someone on your show or podcast, send us a message at kdugal@tradeoffs.org or scrane@tradeoffs.org.
Our Team
Editorial
Dan Gorenstein, Founder and Executive Editor
Before founding Tradeoffs, Dan was the senior reporter for Marketplace’s Health Desk, covering the business of health care, and before that, he spent more than 11 years at New Hampshire Public Radio. He got his start in journalism at the Chicago Reporter, an investigative journal that examines race and class disparities in the Chicago area. He’s won numerous national and local awards, including the Society of Professional Journalist Sigma Delta Chi investigative reporting award. As the Founder and Executive Editor, Dan sets the vision for Tradeoffs’ journalism and strategic direction.
Email: dgorenstein@tradeoffs.org
Twitter: @dmgorenstein
Leslie Walker, Senior Producer
Leslie joined Tradeoffs in the early days of 2019. She reports, produces and edits episodes for the show. Leslie has had what’s now fashionably known as a “nonlinear career,” having worked in health care, startups, communications and politics — and she even co-owned an artisan bread bakery.
Email: lwalker@tradeoffs.org
Twitter: @leslie_walker_
Alex Olgin, Reporter/Producer
Alex joined Tradeoffs in 2022 as a Reporter/Producer. She’s covered health care for six years at local public radio stations and most recently for an industry audience at Gist Healthcare team producing their daily podcast. Alex’s public radio experience includes working as the sole reporter in Charleston for South Carolina Public Radio and covering the death penalty trial of the Charleston church shooter. When she’s not at work, you may find Alex on the dance floor as a competitive salsa dancer.
Email: aolgin@tradeoffs.org
Twitter: @Alexolgin
Ryan Levi, Reporter/Producer
Ryan has been reporting and producing stories for Tradeoffs since 2019. Before that, he spent three years doing a little bit of everything at KQED, the NPR member station in the San Francisco Bay Area, and his work has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and Here and Now. When he’s not reporting, Ryan loves baking and reading.
Email: rlevi@tradeoffs.org
Twitter: @ryan_levi
Cate Cahan, Editor
Cate Cahan joined Tradeoffs in 2020 as adjunct audio editor, and now also contributes to the editing team for Tradeoffs Research Corner articles. Previously, she was a news and projects editor with WBEZ, the NPR member station in Chicago, for two decades. She started out in audio as an editorial editor, researching and writing editorials for WBBM, the CBS news station in Chicago. Her family is Cate’s favorite non-editing interest, with trees coming in a close second.
Soleil Shah, MD, MSc, Research Reporter
Soleil joined Tradeoffs at the start of 2023. He authors the Tradeoffs Research Corner, which translates the latest health policy research in an accessible and engaging way. His work has been published in outlets ranging from NEJM and Health Affairs to STAT and Scientific American. He is currently a resident physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is a former Fulbright Scholar and Zetema Project Fellow. He’s also an avid reader and is always up for some pickup basketball with his coworkers.
Twitter: @Soleil_Shah
Production
Andrew Parrella, Producer and Sound Designer
Andrew began working on Tradeoffs in 2018, helping to create the pilot episodes to see if this ship could fly … turns out it can! He spent more than 15 years producing live radio and podcasts at public radio stations in New Hampshire (NHPR) and Boston (WGBH). In addition to making Tradeoffs sound beautiful, he also runs Methusaleh Productions, where he helps passionate individuals start their own podcasts. He’s been known to play AC/DC on his ukulele.
Email: aparrella@tradeoffs.org
Twitter: @NhParrella
Cedric Wilson, Production Engineer
Cedric joined Tradeoffs in 2023, helping with production. He’s been working in audio for the past 8 years with work spanning from post production for TV to engineering for indie music artists. He got his start in podcasts on The Nod from Gimlet Media, where he mixed and composed music for the show. In his spare time, he enjoys sim racing and practicing the saxophone.
Administration and Marketing
Jessica Silverman, Executive Director
Jessica joined Tradeoffs in 2019, and as Executive Director she leads the organization’s operations, growth and revenue development. Jessica has nearly 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience. Most recently she ran her own consulting practice, specializing in helping small and midsize nonprofits build the fundraising, branding and operations needed to scale. Previously, she built and ran the development team at Code for America and led public sector partnerships at Carnegie Hall. When she is not at work, you can find her exploring the many beaches and hills of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Email: jsilverman@tradeoffs.org
Shannon Crane, Audience Engagement Lead
Shannon Crane joined Tradeoffs in 2022, and as the Audience Engagement Lead she does marketing and communications to grow the Tradeoffs listener and readership. Prior to joining the team, she worked in science communications at the University of Pennsylvania. Shannon has been a library assistant and holds a Master’s degree in law. She is a Philadelphia native and in her spare time she loves going to see live music.
Email: scrane@tradeoffs.org
Twitter: @shanoonercrane
Kate Sepe, Operations Coordinator
Kate joined Tradeoffs in 2023, and as the Operations Coordinator provides administrative support to the team. Kate has over a decade of experience in nonprofit event management & fundraising. Just prior to stepping out of the workforce to be a Stay-at-Home Parent, Kate was responsible for assisting a national team with the strategy, planning and resourcing of a multimillion-dollar event portfolio. She recently resumed her professional development as an independent contractor, assisting nonprofits with a variety of projects, which led her to Tradeoffs. Kate resides in the Chicagoland area, where her family’s busy schedule rules her free time.
Email: ksepe@tradeoffs.org
Kathryn Dugal, Director of Marketing and Audience
Kathryn joined Tradeoffs in 2023 as the Director of Marketing and Audience. Kathryn has a decade of experience in nonprofit communications, marketing, and audience engagement. Kathryn’s nonprofit news experience includes building and leading the audience engagement team at the Better Government Association/Illinois Answers Project in Chicago and working for the statewide news organization Bridge Michigan as a member of the development and engagement team. Kathryn is a proud midwesterner and currently resides in Chicago.
Email: kdugal@tradeoffs.org
Our BOARD & ADVISORS
Governing Board
Senior Counsel, Berger Montague; Novelist
Former Media Relations Manager, Urban Institute (Ret.)
Founder and Executive Editor, Tradeoffs
Independent Media Strategist
Senior Adviser, Waxman Strategies; Founder, Open Way Coaching
Executive Director, Tradeoffs
Senior Strategist, California Health Care Foundation
Advisory Board
Dean and the Emmett Dedmon Professor, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
Henry and Allison McCance Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy and Director of Health Policy Research, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Associate Professor of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Associate Professor and Chair, Economics Department, University of Louisville
Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies, University of Washington School of Medicine
Catherine C. Henson Professor of Law; Director, Center for Law, Health & Society, Georgia State University
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law; Associate Director, UCLA Center for Law and Economics
Associate Director, Center for Community and Population Health, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Director, Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Associate Professor, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Helen Ross Professor, University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration
Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Health Economics, Bloomberg School of Public Health and Carey Business School
Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia
Assistant Professor, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Assistant Professor of Medicine; University of Pennsylvania
Executive Director, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics; Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Robert D. Eilers Professor of Health Care Management, The Wharton School; and practicing physician at the Philadelphia VA
Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Service, New York University
EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE POLICY
We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News:
Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN’s Membership Standards.
Our Supporters
