Hi, I’m Courtney Kocak.
I'm a Los Angeles-based writer, podcaster, comedian, and hyphen-lover.
But I don’t like labels … I’d rather be defined by my art, man.
Courtney Kocak is a writer, podcaster, and comedian based in Los Angeles. She originally hails from a rural farming community in Minnesota, home to more cows than people. She graduated from UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting and wrote for Amazon’s Emmy-winning animated series Danger & Eggs, voiced by Aidy Bryant, and Netflix’s Know It All podcast.
Courtney has worked as an Executive Producer on several top podcasts, including The Bellas Podcast, which debuted at #1 on Apple Podcasts, and PayPal’s Never Stand Still, hosted by CEO Dan Schulman with guests including Matthew McConaughey, Mark Cuban, Maria Sharapova, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, and more. She was also the Managing Producer for Girlboss Radio. She’s currently an independent producer for Santa Monica NPR-affiliate station KCRW, and her radio story about Maebe A. Girl, the first drag queen elected to public office in the U.S., won an LA Press Club award for gender/LGBT reporting. Courtney also produced audio as a companion to The New York Times Magazine’s 2020 photo series about food scarcity, “America at Hunger’s Edge.”
As a writer, her bylines include The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Cosmopolitan, BUST, Bustle, Healthline, HelloGiggles, Greatist, and more. She’s a regular contributor to InsideHook. Courtney reports on gender, sexuality, psychedelics, reproductive rights, sex work, and sustainability.
Courtney currently hosts two podcasts: Private Parts Unknown, about love and sexuality around the world, which has over 1.5 million downloads to date and has been featured by Cosmopolitan, Business Insider, Men’s Health, and more, and The Bleeders, about book writing and publishing.
She’s the creator and curator of the popular Podcast Bestie newsletter on Substack. She teaches podcasting for Pandemic University, a Canadian online writing and creative school. She trained in comedy and satire writing through The Second City, as well as essay writing and memoir through Catapult.
