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. 

As a writer, Kocak wrote for Amazon’s Emmy-winning animated series Danger & Eggs, voiced by Aidy Bryant, and Netflix’s Know It All podcast. Her bylines include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Cosmopolitan, The Sun, Catapult, BUST, Bustle, Business Insider, Healthline, HelloGiggles, Greatist, and more. She’s a regular contributor to InsideHook and Descript's Creator HQ blog. Courtney reports on gender, sexuality, psychedelics, reproductive rights, sex work, and sustainability.

In the audio sphere, Courtney has produced a slew of highly-ranked podcasts for celebrities and CEOs—including The Bellas Podcast, which debuted at #1 on Apple Podcasts, and Never Stand Still, hosted by PayPal’s CEO Dan Schulman with guests including Matthew McConaughey, Mark Cuban, Maria Sharapova, and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. She was also the Managing Producer for Girlboss Radio. She's 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.”

Courtney currently hosts three podcasts of her own with over two million downloads to date: Private Parts Unknown, about love and sexuality around the world, The Bleeders, about book writing and publishing, and Podcast Bestie, a best friend to podcasters trying to grow and monetize their shows (and a popular Substack).

She teaches writing and podcasting for Writing Workshops, Write or Die Magazine (now part of Chill Subs), Roadmap Writers, Pandemic University, and WhoHaha.

Courtney graduated from UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting. She also trained in comedy and satire writing through The Second City, and took a year-long essay generator through Catapult. She’s currently enrolled in Antioch University’s low-residency MFA program, working on a coming-of-age memoir in essays.