LZ Granderson is an ABC News contributor and host of ABC Audio’s “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson” podcast. He is an Emmy Award-winning journalist as well as an op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

 

Granderson hosts the network’s first LGBTQ-focused podcast, “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson,” of which he is also the producer. In the podcast, Granderson draws from his own lived experience as a gay, Black father to host thought-provoking, poignant, and engaging conversations with some of the most influential and inspirational people in the LGBTQ+ community. “Life Out Loud” received a Special Recognition Award from GLAAD in 2022 and Spotify selected it as one of the “Best New Podcasts of 2021.” Since joining ABC News in 2015, Granderson focuses heavily on politics in his role as a contributor. 

 

The Los Angeles Press Club as well as California News and Publishing Association named him the year's top columnist in 2021. In 2016 he was inducted into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame and his TED Talk, “Myth of the Gay Agenda,” has more than 1.7 million views. 

 

Throughout his career, Granderson worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, South Bend Tribune, and the Grand Rapids Press. He spent over 17 years at ESPN in a variety of roles, including NBA editor, Page 2 columnist, tennis commentator, radio host for ESPNLA, and co-host of ESPN’s "Sports Nation." During this time, he was also a columnist and political contributor for CNN, covering stories such as the election of President Obama, marriage equality and the killing of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.  

 

Before that, Granderson was a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and the Hechinger Institute at Columbia University. He currently teaches journalism at his alma mater, Western Michigan University.