Spencer Critchley is an award-winning communication strategist and national media commentator with experience in journalism, digital media, public relations, advertising, and music. He’s the author of Patriots of Two Nations and host of the podcast Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good, and founder of Boots Road Group.
As a communication consultant, Spencer has worked for both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, former Congressman Sam Farr, the U.S. Department of Labor, the University of California at Berkeley, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and many others.
As a digital media producer, his clients have included David Bowie, Moby, Santana, Britney Spears, and others while he was with Thomas Dolby’s Beatnik Inc; the Silicon Graphics-Time Warner-ATT interactive TV system; Silicon Gaming; and the multiple award-winning Choosing Success multimedia program for CCC/Viacom, described by Wired magazine as “the most inspired piece of educational software ever created.” He produced Boots Road Group’s Davey, W3, and Videographer Award-winning video “Rancho Cielo: Transforming Lives” for Rancho Cielo Youth Campus. For other work, Boots Road has won Davey, Graphis, and Communication Arts awards.
As a journalist, Spencer reported stories for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and others, winning awards for investigative reporting from Public Radio News Directors Inc. and the Associated Press. For CBC Radio, he was a correspondent and guest host for the national entertainment and popular culture show Prime Time, the host of the syndicated Canada Rocks record review, and a contributor to The Entertainers and other programs. He has written for Business Insider, HuffPost, the Institute of Arts and Ideas, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Toronto Star, and others.
As a composer and music producer, Spencer composed the score (with collaborator Marco D’Ambrosio) and was the audio producer for the Emmy-winning PBS documentary Blink, among other projects. Signed to a songwriting and artist development contract with Warner-Chappell Music Publishing, he wrote and produced music for Aceboy (“Let It Be Love”) and other projects. For CBC Radio, he wrote and produced the show themes and episode music for the series Prime Time, Radio Banned, and Metro Morning, and created music for The Entertainers and the Peabody Award-winning drama “Paris: From Oscar Wilde to Jim Morrison.”
He has been an adjunct lecturer in Journalism for the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a guest speaker for Stanford University’s documentary film program, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Art Center College of Design, California State University Monterey Bay, the American Constitution Society, MacWorld, Intel Developer World, the New Teacher Center, the California Association of Public Information Officials, and the SXSW, Hot Springs, and Bermuda Film Festivals.
He has been interviewed or quoted by ABC News, American History magazine, the AP, Bloomberg Businessweek Radio, the CBC, CBS Radio, CGTN (China), the Christian Science Monitor, CNN India, CTV News (Canada), the Daily Mail (UK), Deutsche Welle, Forbes, Fox News, GB News (UK), The Hill, ITV (UK), LBC Radio (UK), the Los Angeles Times, NBC, NDTV (India), Newsweek, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Roll Call, the Saturday Evening Post, Sky News (UK and Australia), the Toronto Star, Times Radio (UK), TRT World (Turkey), USA Today, and others.