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Meet the Podcaster: David Kiley, Senior Content Editor and Podcast Host for WardsAuto

I am the senior content editor at WardsAuto. Our podcast is called WardsAuto, and is found on our website, as well as all the major podcast platforms. We are about to record our 60^th podcast. We won the Ken Purdy Award for Excellence in Multi-media journalism from the International Motor Press Association in 2024.

Can you tell us a little about your podcast?

We drop a podcast every week, on Mondays. I strive for a variety of guests. I love to book C-suiters, and we have been successful with numerous C-suite executives, from CEOs to Presidents, Chief Marketing Officers and Chief Engineers. I also get interviews when I am on the road, and some of our guests are product-development chiefs, product program leaders, etc. We have also had SMEs around topics like cyber security, hydrogen, software-defined vehicles and more.

Who have been some of your better-known podcast guests?

GM President Mark Reuss, Magna International CEO Swamy Kotagiri, Auto Alliance CEO John Bozella, Subaru President and COO Jeff Walters, Continental North America CEO Aruna Anand, Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh, Karma Automotive CEO Marcus MCammon, Bosch Mobility President Paul Thomas and more.

Describe the craziest or most fun podcast you have worked on.

I don’t know if it was crazy, but I set out to do a trio of Wards100 podcasts. WardsAuto is celebrating its 100^th year of publishing. That’s remarkable, I think. I told my EIC Bob Gritzinger that I wanted to do articles and podcasts around The Ten Most Impactful Engines/Powertrains in the last 100 years; The Ten Most Impactful Vehicles of the last 100n years, and the Most Impactful Executives of the last 100 years. For the vehicles and powertrains, we went by decade. For the executives we went by 20^th century and 21^st century. It took a long time to develop the questionnaires for our panel—Drew Winter, John McElroy, Gary Vasilash, Paul Eisenstein, Matt DeLorenzo and myself. We are pretty lean staffed at Wards, and it took me several weeks to squeeze the work in. I am glad we did it, though. I think it’s important that WardsAuto put a stake in the ground for our 100^th.

What podcast episode are you most proud of and why?

Probably the Wards100 episodes. But I also really liked talking with Mark Reuss, President of GM. I feel like I grew up covering the auto industry in parallel with Mark, and I’ve been around long enough to have interviewed his father, Lloyd, when he was President of GM. Mark flies under the radar a lot, but I think he is one of my most enjoyable interviews nowadays.

What elements or characteristics do you look for in a podcast guest?

Someone who is not trying to sell something. I choose the guests based on the timeliness of the topic. And though our audience is mostly industry, I try not to get too deep in the weeds on tech or go all the way “inside baseball.” I try to make it accessible for anyone in the auto industry or auto enthusiasts. The software-defined-vehicle topic, for example, can be a bit opaque for some people, so I do my best to keep even that accessible.

How long have you been podcasting and how did you get started?

I have podcasted on and off for years. Besides my automotive life, I am very involved in Michigan’s professional theatre scene and have podcasted around that. I also used to be on Michigan Public Radio as Michigan’s professional theatre authority. Shortly after joining WardsAuto, I suggested a podcast. My editor and parent company said, “Go for it.”

Finish this sentence: When I’m not working on the podcast, I am …

 … writing a play, producing a play or doing content for www.encoremichigan.com, but I recently announced my retirement from running that website, and am transferring it to someone who is going to carry on the work. I love the theatre and am gearing up for a show in 2025 that marks and tells the story of VE Day. It is the 80^th anniversary of VE Day, the end of World War Two, next year. I wrote the play and produced it in 2017, and we are doing it again. So, I’m looking for some sponsors so we can take it to veteran’s groups and schools and if someone wants to retain us for a corporate-invite event, that’s good too. We have some of the best actors in the state. It’s an important anniversary.

What advice do you have for your podcast guests?

Be conversational. Be frank. Don’t try to sell me or the listeners something. Tell a story. I have worked in PR, and I have always told my executives this: think of the interview as a piece of music with a bass line and a melody. The bass line is your messaging. Fine. But if you don’t make your points by telling some stories (the melody) nobody will hear or retain your message.

What advice do you have for PR people that want to pitch their executives for your podcast?

 Make sure you are pitching me because you think the guest will be interesting, not because you need a “hit” to earn your retainer. We reach an important constituency of dealers, industry folks, job seekers in the auto industry, and media.

Any pet peeves with guests and/or PR people?

Only PR people who are just looking for a “hit” to justify their retainer that month. I have been at this along time, and I have worked in comms/PR. I can smell that a mile away.

Tell us a little about yourself (family, interests, hobbies, background, etc.)

I talked about my theatre work. That is really my main passion outside of work. I have run EncoreMichigan.com for 11 years after I rescued it from mismanagement and lack of commitment. I built a new website. I have reviewed more than 500 plays and musicals over the last dozen years. But you get to a point when you have had enough, and you end up spending a lot of time and gas seeing shows you don’t want to see. I have also run the statewide professional theatre awards, The Wilde Awards, for the last dozen years. For now, I will continue with that even after I hand off the site to a new person. I want to devote more time to writing plays and producing them and writing books. I have written three books under my own name and ghosted a book for a CEO. I have a book coming out in 2025 about Subaru, and I have about five plays and as many books in my head fighting to get out.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience? (Maybe something that would surprise people?)

 I have not given up on the idea of learning to play guitar. I run The Michigan Irish Repertory Theatre, and a year ago I produced and acted in a play from Ireland that had never been produced outside the country. It was the best theatre work I have ever done. I also worked as an understudy at Jeff Daniels Purple Rose Theatre.

Where can your podcast be found/subscribed to?

On WardsAuto, we have all the episodes. Click on Resources, and the podcast episodes are in the dropdown. We are also on all the major platforms. Spotify, Pandora, Apple, etc.

You can follow David on LinkedIn and WardsAuto on X, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Check out recent episodes of the podcast here:

• GM President Mark Reuss on Hyundai JV and More
• Inside Biden’s EV Mandate Rollback
• Most Impactful Vehicles 1924-2024
• Can New Generation of Products Revive Lincoln?

You might also be interested in:

• 5 Secrets for A Successful Automotive Media Pitch
• Meet the Podcaster: Carl Anthony, Managing Editor of Automoblog & Host and Producer of the AutoVision News Radio Podcast
• CES 2025: Six PR Facts Vehicle Technology Suppliers Need to Know