Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman is a producer who occasionally directs the show. Since joining the staff in June 2015, she has produced a variety of stories including a coal mine closing near her hometown, the 2016 Republican National Convention, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in southern Bangladesh. She is also an occasional reporter for Morning Edition, and NPR.org, where she has contributed reports on both domestic and international news.
Ashley was a summer intern in 2011 with Morning Edition and pitched a story on her very first day. She went on to work as a reporter and host for member station 89.3 WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned awards covering everything from healthcare to jambalaya.
Ashley is an East-West Center 2018 Jefferson Fellow and a two-time reporting fellow with the International Center for Journalists. Through ICFJ, she has covered labor issues in her home country of the Philippines for NPR and health care in Appalachia for Voice of America.
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'He Will Be A Happier Elephant': Vet Describes What It Was Like To Rescue KaavanDr. Amir Khalil, a veterinarian with Four Paws International, says the "world's loneliest elephant" is settling into his new home in Cambodia. Khalil sang Sinatra's "My Way" to help calm Kaavan. -
Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy appear set to remain in power after Sunday's general election, which is largely seen as a referendum on Suu Kyi's first term. -
The government vowed to rebuild the city after the 2017 conflict with militants linked to ISIS. But more than 100,000 people are still in displacement camps, waiting for reconstruction. -
The documentary A Thousand Cuts focuses on how Ressa and her Rappler news organization navigate Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's attacks on the press. It will be released in the U.S. Aug. 8. -
National Conversation About Race Brews In Rural Western KentuckyIn an interview with David Greene, two men from Webster County, Ky., argue over race at first, but then a disclosure about deeply personal history leads to a bit of unexpected common ground. -
Drive-in movie theaters are making a bit of a comback amid the pandemic. And people are going, even just to reclaim a bit of of their Saturday nights back.
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A new CEO is steering a company that's seen years of slumping revenues and whose home market of Japan has an aging population. But "don't count out Hello Kitty," says an author of a book about Sanrio. -
The company says it didn't intend to suggest that fairness or white was "better than your own unique skin tone." Other major companies have announced changes to advertising tactics seen as racist. -
George Floyd's death isn't just a story about a black man and the white cop charged with his murder. Among Asian Americans, the involvement of Hmong officer Tou Thao is stirring a racial debate. -
Minnesota state Rep. Ruth Richardson doesn't want her teenage son, Shawn, a track athlete, to go running outside. "You can't do the same things that your white friends do," she remembers telling him.
