Amy Silverman
Executive Producer - The ShowAmy Silverman is executive producer of KJZZ’s The Show. She’s worked as a journalist in Phoenix, her hometown, for more than 30 years.
Over the last 30 years, she has covered everything from juvenile justice to the history of the Valley's food scene to the John McCain only Arizonans knew.
Her work has appeared on KJZZ, as well as the radio shows Here & Now, The Pulse and This American Life, and in The Forward, Literary Hub, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Lenny Letter, Motherwell, and Brain, Child. Previously, Amy worked for 25 years as a staff writer and managing editor at New Times, the alternative weekly in Phoenix.
Amy co-teaches the long-running Mothers Who Write workshop and is the co-curator of the live reading series "Bar Flies" at Valley Bar in downtown Phoenix as well as the co-editor of the essay collection "Bar Flies: True Stories from the Early Years."
Along with Phoenix, Amy's work has focused on issues related to disability, often weaving narrative with investigative reporting to tell stories about her daughter, Sophie, who has Down syndrome, and others with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
In spring 2021 Amy was a Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where she developed Wordslaw, a storytelling workshop for people with intellectual disabilities.
In 2020, Amy worked with the Arizona Daily Star and Pro Publica's Local Reporting Network on "State of Denial," a year-long project focused on services for Arizonans with intellectual and developmental disabilities with an emphasis on making the work accessible to people with IDD.
Amy is a three-time winner of the Arizona Press Club’s Journalist of the Year award, most recently for State of Denial. The series was a finalist for the Anthony Shadid Award for Ethics in Journalism and the Online Newspaper Association’s Gather Award for Engagement Journalism. It also won first place for public service from the Arizona Press Club and first place in community service from the Arizona Newspaper Association, as well as the President’s Award from Lee Enterprises.
She’s a member of the advisory board of the National Center on Disability and Journalism, where she has updated two editions of NCDJ’s disability language style guide.
Amy's first book, "My Heart Can't Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love, and Down Syndrome," was published by Woodbine House in 2016. A graduate of Scripps College (B.A. American Studies) and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism (M.S.), she lives in Tempe with her husband, Ray Stern, the state politics and issues reporter for the Arizona Republic. They have two daughters.
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In part three of the special report OVERWHELMED, KJZZ’s The Show sit down with the sister of a man diagnosed with both schizophrenia and autism who was recently a patient at the Arizona State Hospital. -
In part two of the special report OVERWHELMED, The Show reports on the complexities for people diagnosed with both autism and serious mental illness. -
In part one of the special report OVERWHELMED, meet Matt Solan, who has autism and has been in the Arizona State Hospital for almost five years. He says he's out of coping tools and barely surviving. -
Autistic patients at the Arizona State Hospital say they are not receiving accommodations and it’s making them worse. -
Terrol Dew Johnson was probably best known as a basket weaver and sculptor, but the member of the Tohono O’odham Nation was also a health advocate committed to Indigenous food sovereignty. -
Brent Rutemiller had a storied career as the publisher of Swimming World magazine and CEO of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. But, there was more to Rutemiller. -
The wolf, tagged F2979 but known as Hope, was under observation by preservationists, including volunteers from the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. -
Sarahfina Fore died earlier this year, but there’s still a shrine with fresh flowers and a poster board documenting memories of them outside Wasted Ink Zine Distro in Phoenix — a sign that the teacher and member of the creative community will not soon be forgotten. -
As 2024 comes to a close, we're remembering members of the community who made a mark on Arizona. As co-owner of The Paper Place in Old Town Scottsdale, Nancy Silver helped customers order wedding invitations, graduation announcements and a card to express just about any sentiment. -
Like a lot of first-time voters, Sophie Stern couldn’t wait to cast her vote for president. But identity politics are complicated for Sophie, who has Down syndrome.
