OUR TEAM
COMES FROM ACROSS
OUR LOONEY PLANET
IAN WRIGHT • HOST
• Born: Ipswich, England
• Family: All born in England
My road to Our Looney Planet
Apart from wanting to be a hospital porter at the age of 15, I have never had an ambition (job wise) in my life.
At 18, I moved from my hometown of Ipswich to London and enrolled into a 3 year art & painting course, which didn't really enhance my financial outlook on life, but because I was happy painting & drawing all the days long—I figured I would make way somehow.
I joined a community centre at Hoxton Hall which was an Edwardian Music hall in East London way before the yuppies moved in. Here I learned lots of new skills, and soon I was running art/drama/video and kids workshops while cooking and running the kitchen cafe. There I met the best art teacher of all time, we fell in love and we still are, and that was over 30 years ago.
Hi I'm Ian Wright, I have the best job in the world and it's OK to hate me!
It's not just because I’ve travelled to the four corners of the earth, visiting the best places on the planet, meeting the most extraordinary people, eating the best food, skydiving out of planes, risking life and limb but getting to do the most amazing things, and someone pays me for it... Yippie!
But before your anger wells up to boiling point remember that I'm the real victim here. Because now, of course, I have no friends. Could you imagine being my friend... what a nightmare. Most people travel abroad possibly once a year and don't stop going on about it—And me? I go away about 10 times a year, so can you imagine the 100's upon 1000's of tedious travel stories I have got to bore you with... a lifetime's worth.
And in a way, that's why I'm doing this podcast, shockingly there are a few people out there that haven't heard my travel tales... And that's a disgrace.
So, it's great to think that soon, all of you people out there will have the pleasure of hearing me regale my wonderful travel tales to YOU... I thank you, it will truly be an honour!
And, there is no escape!
Learn more at ianwrightarts.com
JUSTINE SHAPIRO • HOST, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
• Born: Johannesburg, South Africa
• Family: My mom was born in Cape Town and my dad was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. My maternal grandmother was born in Rokiskis, Lithuania, and my grandfather was born in Latvia. On my dad’s side, my grandmother was born in Dublin, Ireland, and my paternal grandfather was born in Lithuania.
My road to Our Looney Planet
Theater was my whole life from age 11 to 30. I grew up in Berkeley, California and got my start in community theater—my first role was in Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood. I was also endlessly curious, always reading and interviewing everyone I met. I trained in acting, voice, movement, dance, clown, and commedia dell’arte—through school, college, summer stock, and for two years in Paris with Philippe Gaulier. I moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, supported myself by waiting tables, teaching ESL, doing foley for Twin Peaks, and booking a few TV and film roles. While in LA I found myself falling in love with documentary films—so I moved back to the Bay Area, the heart of documentary filmmaking.
It was 1993. I was interning on docs, waiting tables, and then—unbelievably—landed the job hosting Lonely Planet, later broadcast as Globe Trekker. When I wasn’t on the road filming Globe Trekker, I was making my own documentary films. I was nominated for an Academy Award and won two Emmys for PROMISES, a film featuring seven Palestinian and Israeli children living just 20 minutes apart. After 9/11, when my son was six months old, I launched Global Moms, a series exploring how children are raised around the world. We filmed the first episode in Iran—Our Summer in Tehran—where I traveled with my then-six-year-old son Mateo to live with local families.
In 2020, I approached the rights holders of Globe Trekker and tried to get a reboot TV series off the ground: Globe Trekker Now—where Ian and I would return to the countries we filmed in 30 years ago. The idea got attention, but no funding. Without a social media presence, we were deemed irrelevant. Chastened but not deterred, Ian and I forged ahead. In 2024 we asked our friend Thomas to help figure it out, and voila, we discovered that the vodcast format allowed us to revive what we missed most: spontaneous chats with locals.
Learn more at justineshapiro.com
FUWAD AHAMAD•PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Uttar Pradesh, India
• Family: My mom was born in Uttar Pradesh, India. My dad was born in the United Provinces, British India – as were my grandparents.
My road to Our Looney Planet: I grew up in a village in Northern India’s Uttar Pradesh (meaning “Northern Province”). My father passed away when I was six months old. Each night, my siblings and I would gather around our mother, who narrated stories of our father's journey to Egypt, where he studied at the coveted Al-Azhar University—his work as a radio producer in Cairo, an encounter with a spy in Germany, and attempts to set up a business in Lebanon.
As a child, I aspired to follow in his footsteps—to study abroad, explore the world, and create stories of my own, a seemingly impossible endeavor in our small village connected to the nearest town only by a dirt road. An undergraduate degree in engineering, two master's degrees, and a career in print journalism later, I finally made it. In 2024, I secured admission to UC Berkeley’s Journalism School.
For many, studying at one of world’s finest universities may be a stepping stone, but for me, it is the pinnacle of achievement.
When Justine was building her team of loonies, she came to a career event at the J-School. She complimented my outfit—particularly my shawl. I responded by saying that if she hired me, she would see me wearing one every day. And here I am, a guy from India with a love for shawls helping her build a platform for conversations with people around the world.
Learn more at journalism.berkeley.edu/ahamad_fuwad
NEGAR AJAYEBI • PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Tehran, Iran
• Family: My parents were both born in Tehran, as were their parents – with the exception of my maternal grandfather who was born in Tabriz, Iran
My road to Our Looney Planet: I first fell in love with stories through the scratchy sound of cassette tapes. Growing up in Iran, we had a box full of them—children’s stories I listened to over and over again. I didn’t know it then, but those tapes were probably my first teachers—showing me the power of pacing, tone, and how a well-placed pause can say more than an entire sentence.
I went on to study journalism, earning both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Iran, and soon began working as a reporter. Ever since, I’ve been producing audio stories—news, podcasts, short-form documentaries. I’ve interviewed people in living rooms, classrooms, street corners, and Zoom calls across continents.
And then came Our Looney Planet. It’s a place that feels like a sweet spot between story and adventure, chaos and reality. A space where the narrative isn’t just about where we go, but how we go—curious, open, and sometimes a little lost. I joined as a producer to help shape these stories—not just the polished ones, but the real ones. The ones that remind us why we travel in the first place.
Learn more at journalism.berkeley.edu/negar-ajayebi
ALICIA CHIANG • PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Taiwan
• Family: My parents and grandparents were born and raised in Taiwan.
My road to Our Looney Planet: Everything looks like the movies—this was my first impression when I landed in the United States. I came for school, and what did I get? A brand new community with an entirely different code from what I'm used to in Taiwan. I was curious about the way people laugh, argue, share meals, and build friendships. It was all familiar and foreign at once, and I found myself navigating daily moments through a new cultural lens.
Doing journalism in the US added another layer of perspective—this time more focused, questioning, and humbling. I learned to not just be an observer, but to dig deeper, to follow threads, and to uncover meaning in what might otherwise be overlooked. Through reporting, I’ve been learning to make sense of the world.
Then I met Justine—and joined Our Looney Planet and suddenly, a new lens opened again: one foot in the lively world of Globe Trekker shows, and the other grounded in today’s rapidly shifting present. Now I get to time travel—leaping between decades and across continents, from crumpled paper maps to the GPS in the palm of my hand, from Taiwan to California to who-knows-where-next.
Learn more at journalism.berkeley.edu/alicia-chiang
LILIANA CORTÉS • PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Bogotá, Colombia
• Family: My parents were both born in Bogotá, Colombia too. My dad’s family is from Bogotá and my mom family is from Medellín.
My road to Our Looney Planet: I am a bilingual journalist and documentary filmmaker. My work spans from Colombia to the United States. I’ve covered rural communities, survivors of armed conflict, and the Latinx community in the USA.
Prior to getting my master’s degree in journalism from the UC Berkeley, I studied political science and international relations. As a journalist in Colombia, I spent many years interviewing survivors and the families of victims who endured the 60-year armed conflict between the FARC and the government. Currently I am a 2025 fellow at Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program: My investigative work uses data to examine corporate environmental practices, climate justice, and police misconduct.
While reporting local stories, from the northern island of San Andrés to the southern region of the Colombian Amazon, I discovered that what I love most about my work is connecting with people from diverse backgrounds, traditions, and beliefs.
It’s this curiosity, a genuine desire to understand local communities, and listen to the conversations that arise in them, that led me to Our Looney Planet.
Learn more at journalism.berkeley.edu/lili-cortes/
ZANE KARRAM • PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Washington, D.C., USA
• Family: My dad was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, and my mom was born in DeRidder, Louisiana. My mom’s parents are from Louisiana and McComb, Mississippi. My dad’s parents were born in Jerusalem, Palestine.
My road to Our Looney Planet: Ever since I was a child, news and documentaries were in constant play in our house. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, staying informed, locally, nationally, and internationally was just part of daily life. I became obsessed with documentaries, especially ones about nature, history, and faraway places, and short videos and long-form docs became my favorite way to learn.
I also loved travel shows, and Globe Trekker was one of my earliest favorites. That same spirit came to life on the road with my own family. We’ve done cross-country road trips for as long as I can remember, I've driven coast to coast more than ten times. It shaped how I see the USA.
At 14, we moved to Los Angeles and eventually found my way to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where I focused on documentary filmmaking. I’m drawn to stories that are grounded, surprising, and full of character, much like Our Looney Planet.
It’s rare to work on something that reminds you exactly why you started. Our Looney Planet brings me back to the joy, curiosity, and sense of adventure I felt as a kid, and I can’t wait for the world to experience it.
Learn more at journalism.berkeley.edu/zane-karram
THOMAS LORNE • PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Milwaukee, WI, USA
• Family: My parents are both from Milwaukee. My mom’s family immigrated from Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Croatia, etc.). My dad’s family came from Central/Northern European countries (Norway, Germany, etc.).
My road to Our Looney Planet: I’ve had my hands in every artistic discipline you can imagine—short of dance, which no one needs to see.
Over the years, I’ve studied and worked in the fields of art, writing, music, comics, theater, graphic design, sound design, app design, podcasts—and probably a host of other things I’ve blocked from memory. But film has always been my first love. It’s what led me to an MFA in filmmaking and brought me to California—where I’ve worked on a variety of documentary projects. What excites me most is uncovering the universal themes within our individual stories.
On one of those projects, I was lucky enough to meet Justine—and together we started developing the idea for what would become Our Looney Planet. Helping create this show has been a rare opportunity to bring together all the skills and passions I’ve developed over the years—including my love for travel and a deep interest in our shared human story.
When I’m not working, you’ll often find me in Mexico or somewhere else in Latin America, where people are kind enough to tolerate my slowly improving Spanish. Gracias, compañeros.
Learn more at ThomasLorne.com
KEN SCHNEIDER • PRODUCER, EDITOR
• Born: Los Angeles, USA
• Family: Dad was a refugee from Nazi Germany. He and his parents emigrated to Cuba. Mom is from New York. My grandparents left Russia to flee pogroms. Like so many Americans, I am purebred mutt.
My road to Our Looney Planet: My thirst for travel, life experience and literature landed me in documentary film, a fascinating and fun mode of storytelling. Nearly 40 years in, I’ve made and edited lots of movies for lots of platforms—broadcast, festivals, online, streaming, educational… I’m most into long-format (over 60”) character-based stories, where I can embed issues and themes into personal dramas. My favorite film as producer/director, with my wife Marcia Jarmel, is Los Hermanos/The Brothers, which follows an amazing family of Cuban musicians during the moment when the US lifted many of its restrictions on Cubans. One of the nicest reviews I received as an editor was from the NY Times’ review of Regret to Inform: “unforgettable … exquisitely filmed, edited and scored.” That film earned a Peabody and was nominated for an Oscar and a few Emmys.
I’ve professed and lectured at various colleges and universities throughout the US, in Havana, and in Thailand. I’ve been fortunate to have visited over 40 countries, so landing in Our Looney Planet is a natural confluence of my life experience and professional interests.
Learn more at KenSchneider.net
CRAIG PAULL• BOOKKEEPER
• Born: I was born in Chicago, USA
• Family: My mother was born in Chicago. My father was born in Chicago. My maternal grandmother is from Iran and grandfather was born in Chicago. My paternal grandmother is from Poland and my grandfather is from Ukraine.
My road to Our Looney Planet: After beginning my career as a CPA, I moved into producing film and video as well as photography, now I'm returning to my roots as an accountant and taking on bookkeeping roles. My experience in both worlds allows me insight into the accounting needs of creative projects.