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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At a marriage market in Shanghai, Chinese citizens make personal decisions that have implications for the country's economy.
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Russian President Putin heads to China for a two-day summit. Nearly one out of five credit card users have maxed out on their borrowing. Wildfire season is underway in Mexico and Canada.
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NPR Music's amateur songwriter competition, Tiny Desk Contest, reveals another winner. Nearly 7,000 artists entered the contest for the 10th anniversary title.
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The U.S. wants people to enter the country legally — or not at all. A pier off Gaza for aid is expected to be installed soon. Haiti aims to make progress stabilizing its leadership and security.
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President Biden would halt weapons shipments if Israel invades Rafah. House Speaker Johnson survives leadership threat. GOP lawmakers grill leaders of three public school districts about antisemitism.
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The war that began last year has killed thousands of people and caused a great displacement crisis. In al-Fasher, one of the regional capitals of Darfur, there are reports of attacks on civilians.
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Three of Donald Trump's criminal trials are on hold indefinitely, and may not move forward before the November election.
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Humanitarian groups warn of a potential catastrophe in Rafah. Stormy Daniels begins testifying in Donald Trump's N.Y. criminal trial. TikTok challenges U.S. ban in court, calling it unconstitutional.
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Asylum rules in the U.S. paired with millions of cases backing up immigration courts are causing a major headache for the country.
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Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Russian President Putin is being inaugurated for a fifth term. The House could vote soon to oust Speaker Johnson.