Steve Inskeep
Steve Inskeep is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
Known for interviews with presidents and Congressional leaders, Inskeep has a passion for stories of the less famous: Pennsylvania truck drivers, Kentucky coal miners, U.S.-Mexico border detainees, Yemeni refugees, California firefighters, American soldiers.
Since joining Morning Edition in 2004, Inskeep has hosted the program from New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco, Cairo, and Beijing; investigated Iraqi police in Baghdad; and received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for "The Price of African Oil," on conflict in Nigeria. He has taken listeners on a 2,428-mile journey along the U.S.-Mexico border, and 2,700 miles across North Africa. He is a repeat visitor to Iran and has covered wars in Syria and Yemen.
Inskeep says Morning Edition works to "slow down the news," making sense of fast-moving events. A prime example came during the 2008 Presidential campaign, when Inskeep and NPR's Michele Norris conducted "The York Project," groundbreaking conversations about race, which received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for excellence.
Inskeep was hired by NPR in 1996. His first full-time assignment was the 1996 presidential primary in New Hampshire. He went on to cover the Pentagon, the Senate, and the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he covered the war in Afghanistan, turmoil in Pakistan, and the war in Iraq. In 2003, he received a National Headliner Award for investigating a military raid gone wrong in Afghanistan. He has twice been part of NPR News teams awarded the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for coverage of Iraq.
On days of bad news, Inskeep is inspired by the Langston Hughes book, Laughing to Keep From Crying. Of hosting Morning Edition during the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession, he told Nuvo magazine when "the whole world seemed to be falling apart, it was especially important for me ... to be amused, even if I had to be cynically amused, about the things that were going wrong. Laughter is a sign that you're not defeated."
Inskeep is the author of Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, a 2011 book on one of the world's great megacities. He is also author of Jacksonland, a history of President Andrew Jackson's long-running conflict with John Ross, a Cherokee chief who resisted the removal of Indians from the eastern United States in the 1830s.
He has been a guest on numerous TV programs including ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, CNN's Inside Politics and the PBS Newshour. He has written for publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic.
A native of Carmel, Indiana, Inskeep is a graduate of Morehead State University in Kentucky.
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An experimental antiviral drug shows promise fighting COVID-19. Also a next-generation Coronavirus test raises hopes and concerns. And, the Navy imposes strict rules on a branch of civilian mariners.
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We get a measure of how much damage COVID-19 has done to the economy. President Trump orders meat processors to stay open. And, the government terminates funding for a coronavirus research project.
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NPR surveyed the 50 states about their contact tracing capacity. Amid coronavirus, states expand Internet voting experiments — raising security fears. And, Airbnb bookings drop amid pandemic.
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What does Congress need to do to prepare for reopening the country? Georgia's dine-in restaurants and theaters are allowed to open. And, COVID-19 may change basic human interactions like handshakes.
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White House issues guide to help states reopen. For the first time in decades, China's economy shrinks — because of the pandemic. And, questions remain regarding the precise origins of COVID-19.
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President Trump will give guidance to governors on reopening states. First-time claims for jobless benefits will be announced. And in India, fears contact-tracing has crossed into discrimination.
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News Brief: WHO Funding, Reopening The U.S., Antibody TestsU.S. ends WHO funding pending a review of its handling of COVID-19. President Trump backpedals comments that only he can reopen the U.S. And, tests to detect past COVID-19 exposure hit the market.
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Experts say before the U.S. can reopen, advancements must be made in testing and tracing the sick. Has President Trump's pledges to fight COVID-19 materialized? And, Spain eases lockdown rules.
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The U.S. coronavirus curve rises while China's flattens. The pandemic opens a new front in the abortion battle. And, Bloomberg staffers say they were promised jobs through November, some are suing.
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News Brief: Coronavirus Restrictions And Orders, Presidential CampaignPresident Trump says he's considering restricting some domestic travel. Florida orders residents to stay at home. And, the coronavirus nearly bumps the presidential campaign from news headlines.