Who we are
Our Story
We love podcasts. Our morning coffee is accompanied by Michael Barbaro’s “hmms.” Sarah Koenig is our favorite celebrity.
It takes a huge amount of time, effort and expertise to build long-form podcasts, but highly produced, investigative audio stories don’t have to come from a major studio in New York or L.A.
Something amazing and unique is happening on the University of Texas campus. Students and alums are reinventing what it means to create the most popular podcasts. The next big audio story won’t be coming from a national podcasting powerhouse. It will come from The Drag.
We’re an audio production house built by students, professors and Moody College alums. We love audio storytelling, and we especially love long-form journalistic podcasts that guide listeners through a complex story. And we want to help the media world figure this out, so we partner with media organizations to help them tell fascinating stories. The next generation of podcasters will come from the Moody College. Where did we get our name? Guadalupe Street, famously called The Drag, runs alongside our home on campus. The Drag was created thanks to the Dallas Morning News Innovation Fund, which supports innovative student projects in the Moody College of Communication.
Our first podcast, “The Orange Tree,” hit the top 20 in all categories on Apple Podcasts and continues to stay in the charts. We’ve got many more exciting projects in the works, and we can’t wait to share them all with you.
Love what we do? Show your support for The Drag today by making a donation to support our student podcasters who, in addition to juggling school work, internships, jobs and extracurriculars, are working hard to create the compelling longform podcasts you’ll soon see at the top of the charts.
Our Team
We aren’t a typical team of audio storytellers. We’re professors, students and people who just walked the graduation stage. Some of us didn’t know how to hold a shotgun mic when we started, while others edited audio in their closets all night. All of us love a good story and are passionate about podcasts.
Robert Quigley
Executive Director
Robert Quigley loves storytelling in all its forms. He started The Drag in the spring of 2019 because he especially loves podcasts. He’s also a journalism professor at UT.
Katey Psencik Outka
Associate Director
Katey Psencik Outka joined The Drag full-time in 2021 after working in newspapers, TV, digital media and nonprofit marketing. She’s a diehard Longhorn and spends her free time reading and playing with her shih tzu, Oso. She’s also an adjunct lecturer in UT’s School of Journalism and Media.
Christian McDonald
Technical Director
Christian McDonald teaches data and coding courses in UT’s School of Journalism. He joined full-time in 2018 after 28 years working for publications in Austin, Atlanta, Phoenix and Longview, Texas.
Sabrina LeBoeuf
Content Director for The Drag
Associate Producer for The Orange Tree
Sabrina LeBouef is a journalism and RTF senior at UT Austin who directs content for The Drag. In her spare time, she watches movies, dances and plays music. Her favorite podcasts are Dr. Death and Blackout.
Madi Thomason
Web Developer & Graphic Designer
Madi is senior studying Journalism and Political Communication at the University of Texas. Check out her work at madithomason.com
Sara Schleede
Director & Host of 35
Sara Schleede is a journalism senior at UT Austin. When she’s not making podcasts, she’s baking heart-shaped desserts and getting excited about absurd roadside architecture.
Cesar Perez
Director & Host of Crooked Power
Cesar comes from Ecuador and goes way back with storytelling; he comes from a family of journalists. He’s an avid coffee drinker who loves soccer, music and a good conversation.
Maya Fawaz
Director & Host of Crooked Power
Maya Fawaz is a senior at the University of Texas studying Journalism with a minor in French. She loves impulsively redecorating and cooking without following a recipe.
Ashley Miznazi
Audio Director
Ashley is a cat-loving, plant-nurturing junior studying journalism and communication. She likes reading, traveling and reporting on issues that matter to her. Check out her work at ashleymiznazi.com
Kenny Jones
Audio Director
Kenny is a journalism junior and fun-haver at UT Austin. He enjoys drinking hot tea, running long trails and is addicted to trying new things. You can check out his work here.
Doing this for a grade
Moody College students get a chance to produce professional-quality podcasts as part of a capstone class at the School of Journalism. Working on teams with our paid staff members, the students are getting an experiential learning lesson of a lifetime. Each semester, a fresh group of students will help shape our stories and get credit for their work when our podcasts hit the top charts.
