Julia Cunningham is living the dream

“I started in the summer of 2006, as an intern for Shade 45,”  SiriusXM’s Julia Cunningham explains. “It was such a great time … music blasting in the hallways, special DJ mixes of songs, great people … I loved it.” 

Thus began the career of one of the satellite radio service’s most infectiously positive and fun personalities.

“As a kid, I loved listening to the radio in the back seat of the car. I liked the top-40 stations, along with the oldies stations that my Mom would play,” Cunningham told me. “But it was my Dad listening to the talk radio and NPR stations that made me appreciate the art of story-telling, and that got me hooked.”

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She grew up in Indiana, graduating from Saint Joseph High School in South Bend and then earning a degree in Film and Television from the University of Notre Dame. Film Theory was her focus, and she saw herself becoming a critic, perhaps even writing for Rolling Stone … until she discovered radio. 

“One of my friends was talking about my voice, and how I’d sound great on the student-run on-campus station.” An irony because Cunningham says she never really liked the sound of her voice … “I thought it was too low,” she claims. Starting at internet-only WVFI, she soon found herself on the full-power FM sister station WSDN. “I had an Indy show,” she says proudly, as well as reading the news and other announcing duties.

Her move to SiriusXM came during her senior year of college. And it wasn’t easy. “I must have sent out 1200 applications,” she says, both for radio and television. She was hoping to become a part of the David Letterman Show as he was from the same area. But as it turned out, the radio gods had a different path in mind.

“The only actual offer I received came from Shade 45,” a rap music-oriented channel on SiriusXM she said. Many of the places I applied didn’t even respond at all. But Lil Shawn from Shade 45 contacted me, and I was intrigued with the opportunity. Plus, “everyone was so chill.” 

After graduating college, she was hired at SiriusXM, and wore many hats. Coordinating music, overseeing new interns, getting involved with channels such as First Wave and Indy channel Sirius XMU.

Then she heard about a new channel coming soon — the Entertainment Weekly channel, focussing on entertainment, pop culture, story-telling. “I applied on-line” just like everyone else, she said. “Of course I mentioned I was already an employee, but I didn’t even know if there were internal applications,” she explained.

Auditions went on for months, but finally it came through, giving Cunningham a chance to do what she always loved – story-telling.

Now heard on Radio Andy (Channel 102) weekdays at 12 noon Pacific time, Cunningham’s show runs the gamut of pop culture, with deep knowledge of all things film, radio, and television. She is friendly, candid, and absolutely interesting, and her infectious positivity exudes in every one of her reports and interviews.

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Recent interviews have included the cast of Toy Story 5, Jason Momoa, and Sophia Turner, the cast of Wuthering Heights, the cast of One Battle After Another, Sharon Stone, and many more.

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“We have an incredible talent department, and they help set up meetings and interviews,” she explained. “We work closely with studios, talent, and managers so we are always on the move.” Her style, though, helps bring people to her, as she has become one of the de facto trusted voices in pop culture. Her home base in Los Angeles, but there are studios across the country and she can meet people where they are, as needed.

And if that were not enough, she’s still hosting a music show on Pop Rocks Channel 6 weekdays at 3 p.m., with extra shows Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays at 8 p.m.; on the SiriusXM app, you can find her hosting Lights, Camera, PopRocks, where she revisits the movies, television shows, and songs that defined the era of the 1990s and 2000s.

“I have a dream job,” Cunningham tells me. “I am forever thankful for the opportunities I have had here at SiriusXM.”