Elise Hu
Elise Hu is a host-at-large based at NPR West in Culver City, Calif. Previously, she explored the future with her video series, Future You with Elise Hu, and served as the founding bureau chief and International Correspondent for NPR's Seoul office. She was based in Seoul for nearly four years, responsible for the network's coverage of both Koreas and Japan, and filed from a dozen countries across Asia.
Before joining NPR, she was one of the founding reporters at The Texas Tribune, a non-profit digital news startup devoted to politics and public policy. While at the Tribune, Hu oversaw television partnerships and multimedia projects, contributed to The New York Times' expanded Texas coverage, and pushed for editorial innovation across platforms.
An honors graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia's School of Journalism, she previously worked as the state political reporter for KVUE-TV in Austin, WYFF-TV in Greenville, SC, and reported from Asia for the Taipei Times.
Her work at NPR has earned a DuPont-Columbia award and a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media for her video series, Elise Tries. Her previous work has earned a Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism, a National Edward R. Murrow award for best online video, and beat reporting awards from the Texas Associated Press. The Austin Chronicle once dubiously named her the "Best TV Reporter Who Can Write."
Outside of work, Hu has taught digital journalism at Northwestern University and Georgetown University's journalism schools and served as a guest co-host for TWIT.tv's program, Tech News Today. She's on the board of Grist Magazine and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tries out new experiences in East Asia. In Tokyo, she checks out Japanesepurikura photo booths, which produce selfies to decorate and print out.
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North Korea will top the agenda as President Trump and South Korea's Moon Jae-in meet Thursday. But whatever tensions brew below the surface, there will be reassurances that the relationship is solid. -
At a time of growing North Korean weapons capabilities, President Trump and Moon Jae-in will meet Thursday. "We will focus on building a foundation of friendship and trust," says Moon's spokesman. -
In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tries out new experiences in East Asia. In this episode from Seoul, K-pop dance steps prove too complicated for completion.
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In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tries out new experiences in East Asia. In this episode, Japanese toilets: so automated and comfortable, you might never want to leave the bathroom.
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In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tests out new experiences in East Asia. In this episode: pore vacuuming, a hot trend in Korean beauty. A suction pen excavates grime from your face.
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In NPR's Elise Tries series, correspondent Elise Hu tests out new experiences in East Asia. In this inaugural episode, she visits a South Korean animal cafe. Things don't go as smoothly as planned.
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Researchers say the belief some South Koreans hold that North Koreans — who are the same ethnicity as South Koreans — are beast-like is a product of years of propaganda and misleading education. -
If approved, the warrant would arrest Park in connection with the corruption scandal that's gripped the nation for months. But prosecutors argue that the evidence could be destroyed in the meantime. -
The secretary of state didn't cut short his South Korea stay over the weekend, but an information vacuum meant a lot of people thought he did.
