About Us

Shannon Fisher is the host and producer of Cultural Controversy and Our Lives with Shannon Fisher on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network and is among a small team of hosts of the National Press Club’s Update-1 podcast, which addresses issues in the media as they relate to current events. Shannon has the highest episode listenership on the AOTA network, where she previously hosted The Authentic Woman. 

The exploration of society, politics, health, spirituality, and the arts is Shannon’s raison d'être. Her social commentary and reporting have appeared in a long list of national, regional, and international publications, including Forbes, PBS, Apple News, HuffPost (Entertainment, Parents, Women, Politics), DCist, The Richmond Times Dispatch, The Fix, Nicki Swift, Today, Newsweek, Yahoo Finance, Golf Course Architecture, The Imprint, Media Shift, Press.org, and many others.

A dedicated advocate for the safety, rights, and equality of women and girls, Shannon serves on the Virginia Board of Directors for the National Organization for Women and served on the National Executive Board of UniteWomen.org, where she co-founded the organization’s Unite Against Rape campaign. For this national awareness campaign, Shannon enlisted the participation of a multitude of legislators, celebrities, and everyday men and women. She was named a “Woman Who Inspires” by Svaha USA, Shannon was among the “Richmonders of the Year” by Style Weekly, honored with colleagues for political activism. She was also named by PPAV as one of the “Top 20 Most-Earned Political Capital of All Time” in the field of women’s rights.  

Shannon delves deeply into the issues that matter to Americans, and her interviews with public figures are often poignant and revealing. She has interviewed Senators, Bureau Chiefs, World Bank executives, New York Times bestsellers, Pew Research Center analysts, leaders at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, celebrities, publishers, comedians, human rights advocates, professors from esteemed universities, philanthropists, psychologists, mystics, and writers and artists of nearly every genre.

A lifelong communicator and observer, Shannon received a B.A. from The College of William and Mary in Theatre, with a minor in Sociology. She is also a graduate of the year-long Political Leaders Program at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at The University of Virginia and has continued her education with courses in Journalism for Social Change at the University of California, Berkeley, Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, and U.S. Government at Harvard University. She is a member of both the National Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists.