NPR - Key Persons
A Maui chef's lifeline: his restaurant as the island recovers from Lahaina wildfires
March 12, 2024 • Thousands remain displaced after last year's deadly wildfire on west Maui. Among those who lost almost everything was a chief and his family. But they're determined to keep their restaurant running.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is increasing police presence in the city in response to reports of increased Islamophobic rhetoric after a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Paul Sancya/AP hide caption
Author Alejandra Oliva (right) next to the cover of her memoir, Rivermouth. Headshot by Anna Longworth hide caption
Author Ava Chin poses next to the cover of her recent book, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming Author headshot via Tommy Kha hide caption
Job Titles:
- Editor, Producer and Writer
Casey Miner is an award-winning narrative audio editor, producer and writer who's worked with NPR, Wondery, Reveal, The Stoop, Slate, Pop-Up Magazine and Mother Jones, among many others. Projects she's worked on have been recognized by the Peabody Awards, the Emmy Awards, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists. She created and hosted The Specialist, a podcast about work we don't think about and the people who do it, and is a co-founder of the Editors Collective, a group of narrative audio editors working to diversify the field and build networks and career paths for new editors.
Job Titles:
- Cala Is a Producer for Code Switch
- Producer for Code Switch
Christina Cala is a producer for Code Switch. Before that, she was at the TED Radio Hour where she piloted two new episode formats - the curator chat and the long interview. She's also reported on a movement to preserve African American cultural sites in Birmingham and followed youth climate activists in New York City.
Before that, she spent five years producing, reporting and editing for NPR's evening news program, All Things Considered. While at All Things Considered, she reported from the Colombia-Venezuela border on the migration crisis, covered immigration from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, told the story of one man moving through the immigration system, field-produced from the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki and reported her first piece from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Her reporting on the border was part of a 2019 Edward R. Murrow award-winning package.
In her role with All Things Considered, Cala served as the show's update producer and director, participating in special breaking news coverage. She also led music coverage for the show, reporting and producing from SXSW, editing music reviews and training the next generation of music critics.
In 2018, she co-founded the MGIPOC (Marginalized Gender and Intersex People of Color) Mentorship Program at NPR. The program includes one-on-one mentorship, scholarships for conferences, monthly brown-bags and an annual speaker symposium. She and her co-founders have presented on the program at ONA, Third Coast, Werk It and more. She and her co-founders received the NPR Diversity Success employee award for their work in 2018.
Job Titles:
- Senior Editor at Code Switch
Job Titles:
- Producer
- Reporter
- Reporter / Producer, Throughline
Cristina Kim Cristina Kim is a reporter/producer for Throughline.
Cristina Kim is a reporter/producer for Throughline.
Before joining NPR, Kim was the race and equity reporter at KPBS in San Diego where she covered housing, evictions, and the racial wealth gap. Her reporting on racial covenants as part of NPR's collaborative investigations initiative won an NABJ award and was shortlisted for a National Headliner Award.
Kim previously worked at KQED in San Francisco as a producer on Forum, the Bay Area's daily talk show, and was the founding producer of Truth Be Told with Tonya Mosley. Her career has also included stints at StoryCorps, NPR and WBUR's Here and Now and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. Her work at Reveal was recognized by an Edward R. Murrow Award.
A recovering academic and self-proclaimed "context queen," Kim loves spending time in the archives as much as she loves going out and talking with people. She is based in San Diego, California.
Job Titles:
- Retired U.S. Army Officer
Job Titles:
- the Doctor in Doctor Who Special 1
Job Titles:
- Curator of the Harlem Renaissance
Denise Murrell is the curator of The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism, featuring works like Archibald J. Motley Jr.'s Black Belt. Photos courtesy of The Met hide caption
Job Titles:
- Senior Producer for NPR 's Throughline
- Senior Producer, Throughline
Devin Katayama is a Senior Producer for NPR's Throughline podcast. He was formerly Editor of Talent and Development for KQED, where he created equitable opportunities for interns and newsroom staff. Prior to that, he hosted The Bay and American Suburb podcasts. While an education reporter with WFPL, Katayama won WBUR's 2014 Daniel Schorr award and a regional RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for his documentary "At Risk." Katayama has also received numerous local awards from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists. He earned his master's in journalism from Columbia College Chicago, and a bachelor's in English creative writing from CUNY Hunter College. Katayama is based in Vallejo, California - the 707.
Job Titles:
- Co - Host / Correspondent, Code Switch
- Founding Member of NPRs Code Switch
Gene Demby Gene Demby is the Co-host/Correspondent for NPR's Code Switch team.
Gene Demby is a founding member of NPRs Code Switch team, where he serves as a host of the show's podcast. In 2020, Code Switch was named Apple's inaugural Podcast Of The Year. Demby's essays for Code Switch have also earned him honors for commentary from the Online News Association. Prior to joining NPR, he served as the managing editor of HuffPost's BlackVoices. He began his professional journalism career at the New York Times, where he served in various roles.
Demby hails from Philadelphia and currently resides in Washington, D.C.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Producer, TED Radio Hour and How I Built This
- Producer for TED Radio Hour and How I Built This With Guy Raz
J.C. Howard is a producer for TED Radio Hour and How I Built This with Guy Raz. He started with NPR as an intern for How I Built This in May 2018 and began producing in his current capacity in January 2019.
Some of his favorite projects from his time at NPR include producing the stories of Jo Malone, Jamie Siminoff and Tristan Walker for How I Built This, and presenting ideas about climate change, belief and everyday racism for TED Radio Hour. Since July 2020, Howard has also served as an occasional panelist for Pop Culture Happy Hour, delivering takes and perspective on the copious amounts of TV and movies he already watches.
Before joining NPR, Howard was a freelancer whose projects included writing for the blog of NPR's Car Talk, and reporting and audio editing for member station KALW in San Francisco. Howard is a graduate of the First Voice Apprenticeship Program at KPFA.
Howard received a master's degree from Gonzaga University in communication and leadership. His interests include thinking deeply about shallow TV, and talking about being born and raised in Oakland, California.
Job Titles:
- Associate Producer
- Associate Producer, Code Switch
Jess Kung (they/them) is an associate producer on Code Switch. Previously, they interned with Code Switch and the podcast The Document from KCRW in Santa Monica. They are a graduate of Long Beach State University.
Chef Jojo Vasquez in the open kitchen of FOND - a Neighborhood Eatery, in west Maui. Deanne Fitzmaurice for NPR hide caption
Job Titles:
- Editor
- Editor for NPR 's Throughline
- Supervising Editor, Throughline
Julie Caine Julie Caine is supervising editor for NPR's Throughline.
Julie Caine is supervising editor for NPR's Throughline. An award-winning editor, reporter and audio producer, Caine's heart is in her ears. She led podcasting and on-demand audio at KQED in San Francisco, overseeing strategy, new show development and a vibrant podcast portfolio, including The Bay, Truth Be Told and Rightnowish. She helped found Jetty Studios, an international podcast unit for the Al Jazeera Media Network, where she launched Closer Than They Appear and Game of Our Lives, and developed The Take. She's a founding producer and editor on The Stoop and The Specialist podcasts, and was managing producer for Crosscurrents at KALW Public Radio, a springboard for shows like 99% Invisible, Snap Judgment, The Intersection, and Kamau Right Now. She believes deeply in Grace Paley's maxim that you must be a story listener to be a storyteller.
Author Kai Cheng Thom next to the cover of her recent book, Falling Back in Love with Being Human. Author photo by Rachel Woroner hide caption
Joan Suzuki, the grandmother of reporter Kori Suzuki, who was born and raised in the U.S., but lived in Japan during World War II. Kori Suzuki hide caption
Laine Kaplan-Levenson is the host of All The Only Ones, a miniseries about the history of trans youth from NPR's Embedded podcast. They were previously a producer and reporter for NPR's Throughline podcast.
Job Titles:
- Editor
- Editor, Code Switch
Leah Donnella is an editor on NPR's Code Switch team, where she helps produce and edit for the Code Switch podcast, blog, and newsletter. She created the "Ask Code Switch" series, where members of the team respond to listener questions about how race, identity, and culture come up in everyday life.
Donnella originally came to NPR in September 2015 as an intern for Code Switch. Prior to that, she was a summer intern at WHYY's Public Media Commons, where she helped teach high school students the ins and outs of journalism and film-making. She spent a lot of time out in the hot Philly sun tracking down unsuspecting tourists for on-the-street interviews. She also worked at the University of Pennsylvania in the department of College Houses and Academic Resources.
Donnella graduated from Pomona College with a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies.
Job Titles:
- Award - Winning Journalist
Lori Lizarraga Lori Lizarraga is a co-host of NPR's Code Switch.
Award-winning journalist Lori Lizarraga is a co-host of NPR's Code Switch, the preeminent podcast about race and identity in America. Before joining NPR, she reported across the country in Texas, California, Colorado and internationally in Ecuador. She has a reputation for breaking news and a passion and energy for covering under-reported communities, civil rights and issues surrounding immigration and Latinos in the U.S.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, creating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff is asked on All Things Considered about John Burnett's reporting that thousands are stranded at the New Orleans Convention Center post-Katrina. Chertoff dismisses the reports as "rumors"; later his office calls to say the story is accurate and supplies are being sent.
Nadim Cheikhrouha, producer for the Oscar-nominated documentary Four Sisters, wears an Artists4Ceasefire pin as he attends the Academy Awards on Sunday. The pin features a hand with a black heart in the middle of it. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Job Titles:
- Producer
- Producer, Throughline
Regina Hall is our savior in 'Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.'
September 2, 2022 • In the movie Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul., a Southern Baptist megachurch has been rocked by a lurid scandal. The always delightful Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown star as the first lady and pastor of the church, who must reopen their doors and woo back their former congregants. The satire is framed as a mockumentary that dives into Black Christian culture, a marriage on the rocks and the politics of faith.
Regina Hall is our savior in 'Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.'
Rund Abdelfatah Rund Abdelfatah is the co-host and producer of Throughline.
Rund Abdelfatah is the co-host and producer of Throughline, a podcast that explores the history of current events. In that role, she's responsible for all aspects of the podcast's production, including development of episode concepts, interviewing guests, and sound design.
Abdelfatah joined NPR in 2014 as an intern and went on to become a producer on a number of NPR's most popular podcasts, including How I Built This, TED Radio Hour, NPR Politics Podcast, Code Switch, and Pop Culture Happy Hour.
The concept for Throughline, launched in February 2019, was developed by Abdelfatah and her co-host, Ramtin Arablouei.
Abdelfatah got her start in journalism covering local and domestic politics at the Washington bureau of the BBC. She previously earned a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology, with a minor in Spanish, from Princeton University.
Job Titles:
- Kansas City Defender Founder
Job Titles:
- Professor of Africana Studies, Gender, and the Internet at UCLA, As Well As the Author of the Book Algorithms of Oppression. Headshot by John Davis Hide Caption
Safiya Noble, a professor of Africana studies, gender, and the internet at UCLA, as well as the author of the book Algorithms of Oppression. Headshot by John Davis hide caption
Job Titles:
- National Correspondent, Race and Identity
Sandhya Dirks Sandhya Dirks is a National Correspondent covering race and identity for NPR.
Sandhya Dirks is a National Correspondent covering race and identity for NPR.
Previously, Dirks was the race and equity reporter at KQED and the lead producer of On Our Watch, a podcast from NPR and KQED about the shadow world of police discipline. She approaches race and equity not as a beat, but as a fundamental lens for all investigative and explanatory reporting.
Dirks covers policing, housing, social justice movements, and the shifting demographics of cities and suburbs. She's the creator and co-host of the podcast American Suburb, about the transformation of suburbia into the most diverse space in American life. She was the editor for Truth Be Told, an advice show for and by people of color. Her stories about race, space, and belonging were part of KQED's So Well Spoken project, which won RNDTA's Kaleidoscope award, honoring outstanding achievements in the coverage of diversity.
Prior to joining KQED in 2015, Dirks covered the 2012 presidential election from the swing state of Iowa for Iowa Public Radio. At KPBS in San Diego, she broke the story of a sexual harassment scandal that led to the mayor's resignation. She got her start in radio working on documentaries about Oakland that investigated the high drop-out rate in public schools and mistrust between the police and the community. Dirks lives in Oakland and believes all stories are stories about power.
Job Titles:
- Editor
- Producer
- Content Development Producer
Schuyler Swenson Schuyler Swenson is an audio producer, editor and educator based in Brooklyn, NY.
Schuyler Swenson is an audio producer, editor and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Prior to NPR Schuyler worked at Vox Media, making podcasts for New York Magazine's The Cut, Vox.com, and Recode. She got her start in radio at WNYC for Studio 360 and later made podcasts for The New York Public Library. Swenson's taught audio journalism at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, and the Transom Story Workshop. Prior to working in audio, she taught histories of immigration at the Tenement Museum. She enjoys horn sections, profanity and regional accents.
Job Titles:
- Reporter
- Reporter for NPR 's Education Team
Sequoia Carrillo Sequoia Carrillo is a reporter for NPR's Education Team.
Sequoia Carrillo is a reporter for NPR's Education Team. She covers K-12 education and regularly reports on issues like school segregation and infrastructure challenges for the network. She's also spent the past few years learning the ins and outs of the student loan system and hearing borrowers' stories. Her reporting on joint consolidation loans, a type of student loan that chained couples together even in cases of divorce and abuse, helped propel a fix into law.
Author Shahnaz Habib next to the cover of her new book, Airplane Mode. Author photo by Eva Garmendia hide caption
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer
- Executive Producer, Programming
Veralyn Williams Veralyn Williams is the executive producer of programming at NPR.
Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. In her role as executive producer of programming at NPR, Williams brings her leadership (and editorial ears) to It's Been a Minute, Code Switch and The Limits with Jay Williams.
Before coming to NPR, Williams was the senior editor at LWC Studios, where she developed and launched The Oprah Winfrey Network original podcast, Trials to Triumphs. She was also Executive Producer for WNYC's United States of Anxiety, and she has worked to launch, and shape shows like Slate Represent, Family Ghosts, WNYC's Radio Rookies and The Stakes.
Wanda Irving holds her granddaughter, Soleil, in front of a portrait of Soleil's mother, Shalon, at her home in Sandy Springs, Ga. Wanda is raising Soleil since Shalon died of complications due to hypertension a few weeks after giving birth. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
Xavier Lopez is a producer for Code Switch. He came to NPR from CNN Audio, where he helped produce shows such as Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the inaugural season of Tug of War. Prior to that, Lopez worked at NPR member station WHYY in Philadelphia, where he worked on shows such as The Pulse, Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane and the daily news podcast, The Why.
Before working in journalism, Lopez worked in the non-profit world in Queens, NY, where he was raised and currently resides. He is a fan of the beach, long walks, sad music, cats, and raccoons.