team
Meet the people behind the podcast
Learn about the journalists, producers and creators behind You Can't Take The Sky.
Doualy Xaykaothao | Host
Doualy Xaykaothao is a Hmong American storyteller with more than 25 years of reporting in public media. She started her career at WHCR in Harlem, then worked on WBAI shows and eventually moved to Washington, D.C. to work at National Public Radio. She is an independent journalist who anchors newscasts at NPR and is Professional in Residence at Hofstra University. Her work in the United States, recognized with Peabody and Edward R. Murrow Awards, is known for its urgency, global perspective and empathetic storytelling. In addition to asking the questions, recording the responses and listening closely to the lives of Ukrainians, she also took many of the photo portraits of the people in the podcast.
Valeria Fokina | Producer
Valeria Fokina is a Ukrainian artist who produces, translates and fixes –making all the arrangements for interviews, travel and accommodation. These talents made her the lifeline to the telling of the everyday life of Ukrainians in a time of war. But it is her singular sense of duty to truth and witnessing of war that made her invaluable to this podcast. She treated every interviewee like family, honoring their time, their space, their story. She also makes excellent varenyky sour cherry dumplings.
Nikita Simonchuk | Producer
Nikita Simonchuk is a Ukrainian attorney who volunteered as a driver to deliver much-needed food and supplies to families during the first weeks of Russia's invasion. In between legal work, he assisted local and foreign journalists, including some from The New York Times and the You Can't Take The Sky team. His sharp attention to detail and love of music helped the podcast better represent diverse Ukrainian voices and sounds. He also has an impressive vinyl collection.
Sáša Woodruff | Editor
Sáša Woodruff is the news director at Boise State Public Radio and has more than two decades of broadcast news experience with NPR, Public Radio International and American Public Media. She's also a leader in live-streaming and podcast productions. The beauty of this podcast is as much a result of her ear for dignity in storytelling as her hand at fermenting persimmons, piping cream puffs and nurturing bioluminescent petunias – knowing which details matter.
Steven Cuevas | Editor
Steven Cuevas is an award-winning, veteran public radio journalist whose career began in San Francisco in the late 1990s and spans roles as bureau chief, host of the statewide California Report, co-host of the popular arts and film show The Frame and more recent reporting on California wildfires for NPR. This podcast grew strong through his storytelling expertise and his advice on how to better help voices reach far and wide and stay with listeners long after the interview ends.
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Charlene Koutchak | Editor
Charlene Koutchak is an Iñupiaq private practice owner, a trauma-informed nutrition counselor and a former radio journalist once based in Anchorage. Her experience in helping to amplify Alaska Native voices and stories helped the podcast stay poignant in the telling of Ukrainian experiences that are not always easy to tell or, sometimes, not easy to hear.
Melinda Rolls | Website Designer
Melinda Rolls is a self-taught illustrator and author of Worry Stars: Helping Children Mindfully Cope With Worries. She is a recent graduate of Hofstra University, where she earned a degree in journalism and design. The podcast is indebted to her strength in visual storytelling and her love of language. She helped to sharpen and define the untold stories of Ukrainians, giving their words a special place to be seen and heard.
Camryn Bowden | Producer and Reporter
Camryn Bowden is an award-winning journalism and political science student in the five-year dual-degree bachelor’s and master's program at Hofstra University's Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. She is also the station manager of the college's radio station, WRHU, and has her own successful podcast, Queerly Informed. Her vision for content engagement and inclusive storytelling helped to make this podcast move more naturally and with a sense of urgency.
Brooklyn Dottin | Producer
Brooklyn N. Dottin is Chief Content Officer at WRHU Radio and former News Director of Newsline, Hofstra University's evening drive-time news show. They are pursuing a BA/MA in journalism at Hofstra University and also co-produce the award-winning podcast Queerly Informed. An aspiring composer, they create original music and radio promos to help signal boost You Can't Take The Sky into the world.
Alexa D'Amato | Social Media Manager
Alexa D'Amato is a multimedia journalism student at WRHU, Hofstra University's five-time award-winning Marconi radio station on Long Island. She previously interned at ABC 7 On Your Side, NBC 10 Boston and FOX Business Network and will be a summer intern with ABC 9 WMUR. The podcast is thrilled to have her savvy sense of business direction to promoting the stories and experiences of Ukrainians living through war.
Nicklas Dickerson | Sound Designer
Nicklas Dickerson creates original musical compositions that he uses to communicate the urgency surrounding the need for global peace and synergy between all human beings and ecosystems. Inspired by how different elements of the war between Russia and Ukraine have affected us all, he composed pieces of music for the podcast as unique as the spoken words.
Shawn Corey Campbell | Sound Designer
Shawn Corey Campbell was strolling down the street minding his own business when a public radio van pulled up. Candy was offered, and a 30-year ride through the world of public broadcasting began. His long audio trip began with a flirtation with commercial radio, followed by stints at the Alaska Public Radio Network and NPR in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. He was a producer, composer and mixer for The Slow Melt, a podcast about chocolate. Now he pushes faders in California at LAist. His gifted ear ensured we were balanced and equalized throughout our work.
Chien-Chi Chang | Magnum Photos
Magnum photographer Chien-Chi Chang generously donated photographs of evocative landscape scenes from Ukraine, collected since 2014 when he first traveled to the warfront. We are blessed and humbled for his images helping us to inform a greater audience about the suffering as well as the beauty in Ukraine.
Marko Halanevych | DakhaBrakha Quartet
Ukrainian musician Marko Halanevych is truly "class" to give us permission to use the song Vesna (Spring) for our audio storytelling project. While the DakhaBrakha quartet was on tour in the United States in early 2026, Marko green-lit the use of the group's striking song, saying: "Everything for Ukraine." Listen here for their 2021 NPR DakhaBrakha: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert.
Hand-on-our-heart thanks to these individuals:
Samuel Myers • Phil Nash • Mai N. Moua • Evergreen Chou • Karen Emmons • Andrii Dyachenko • Dariya Kulynych • Marjorie Lee • Jill Swenson • Edmund Fong • Chin-Chin Chou • Chieng and Lena • Alicia Moua • Nathalie and Keith • Phung Tran-Smith • Jon Funabiki • Christina Yang • Scott Deley • Hannah Bae • Bo Thao-Urabe • Jeff Severns Guntzel • Brandon Edling • Nicklas Dickerson • Tamara Payne • Brian Klocke • Justin Lieu • Matt Cohen • John Choe • Rochelle Riley • Sharon and Branan • Katia and Thor • Katherine and Mark • Shary and Fuyei • May and Kevin • Maly and Wameng • Nani and ChaoGnia • Melissa and Jeff • Sao and Maidoogyaj • Mai Driggers • Mayva Saykao • Phia and Mayoury • Fong and Mee • Ai Hang • Wayne and Nok • Maysy and NhiaPheng • Will Gardner • Susanne Wild • Billy Berger • Chong Lee • Gia and Thomas • Meggan Ellingboe • Evan Ramstad • Laura Yuen • Thear Suzuki • Nova Safo • Jennifer Wolfe • Sasa Woodruff • Steve Herman • Yua and Bee • Lauren Migaki • Joanna Kakissis • David Kim • Marika Yunt • Lia Chang • Kaying Yang • Steven Cuevas • Mary and Del • Doua Thor • Mai Neng Hawj • Nirmal Ghosh • Susan Kasser • Nina Wimuttikosol • Michel Naopao • Latsamy Dongsavanh • Owen Xayboury • Nirmal Ghosh • John Mullen • Pete Silverman • Andy Gladding • Kathleen Shortis • Mario Murillo • Mark Lukasiewicz • Hmong NYC