Rob Schmitz
Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.
Prior to covering Europe, Schmitz provided award-winning coverage of China for a decade, reporting on the country's economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China's impact beyond its borders took him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Inside China, he's interviewed elderly revolutionaries, young rappers, and live-streaming celebrity farmers who make up the diverse tapestry of one of the most fascinating countries on the planet. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road (Crown/Random House 2016), a profile of individuals who live, work, and dream along a single street that runs through the heart of China's largest city. The book won several awards and has been translated into half a dozen languages. In 2018, China's government banned the Chinese version of the book after its fifth printing. The following year it was selected as a finalist for the Ryszard Kapuściński Award, Poland's most prestigious literary prize.
Schmitz has won numerous awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award. His work was also a finalist for the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. His reporting in Japan — from the hardest-hit areas near the failing Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami — was included in the publication 100 Great Stories, celebrating the centennial of Columbia University's Journalism School. In 2012, Schmitz exposed the fabrications in Mike Daisey's account of Apple's supply chain on This American Life. His report was featured in the show's "Retraction" episode. In 2011, New York's Rubin Museum of Art screened a documentary Schmitz shot in Tibetan regions of China about one of the last living Tibetans who had memorized "Gesar of Ling," an epic poem that tells of Tibet's ancient past.
From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for American Public Media's Marketplace. He's also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He also lived in Spain for two years. He speaks Mandarin and Spanish. He has a bachelor's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
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Coronavirus infections in Germany are on the rise, and doctors warn the country risks throwing away its earlier success as it opens up after the lockdown.
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It's a strategy game of trade and development, and it has become a hit as people shelter at home during the pandemic. The German founder of the board game describes how he came up with Catan. -
As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, many people are once again passing the time with board games — and turning to a wildly popular classic from Germany.
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Relations between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, appear to be heading toward a confrontation. What's causing this, and how are European countries responding?
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Members of the European Union have agreed on a historic stimulus plan to help economies in Europe recover from the damage done by the coronavirus pandemic.
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NPR's correspondents in Paris, London and Berlin update on how the pandemic is affecting life in Europe.
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Cancellation of the presidential election by Poland's ruling party on May 10 and plans for a new all-postal ballot are raising concerns about the state of Polish democracy.
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Less than a month after President Trump vowed to stop U.S. funding, Germany promised to give more than half a billion dollars and France pledged $100 million to a WHO research center in Lyon. -
Staff in over 400 call centers in Germany work around the clock to notify people if they've been exposed to a positive coronavirus case. The country aims to have one contact tracer per 4,000 people. -
Since the very start of the pandemic Germany has had armies of tracers following the contacts of every confirmed coronavirus case, keeping the number of deaths there relatively low.
