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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A gunman opened fire Tuesday at a rural elementary school in Uvalde. At least 21 people have been killed — 19 children and two adults.
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The U.S. reels from a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. President Biden makes a new push for gun control. And, Gov. Brian Kemp wins Georgia's GOP primary over Trump-backed David Perdue.
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The questions in the primary are whether former President Trump's endorsements can secure candidates' victories, and whether there are lingering effects from his 2020 election lies.
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Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tells NPR about the threat the island faces from China, and how the U.S. is helping Taiwan's military prepare. -
It's primary day in Georgia. In Tokyo, President Biden meets the leaders of Australia, India and Japan — a group known as the Quad. And, Russia's invasion of Ukraine began three months ago.
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President Biden on Monday planned to end the border restrictions known as Title 42, which prevented many migrants from seeking asylum. But a judge issued an injunction leaving the rules in place.
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NPR asked 36 people in Democratic-leaning Gwinnett County and Republican-leaning Forsyth County, Ga., what's on their minds heading into the midterms. Their answers are relevant to the entire country.
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Finland's president wants his country to join NATO. The White House faces pressure to protect abortion rights after a Senate bill failed. Schools in Las Vegas experience a sharp rise in violence.
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The wildfire in New Mexico is growing rapidly. After weeks of relentless winds, firefighters are hoping for some relief soon. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands of people evacuated.
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The CDC reports a historic increase in firearm deaths. During the pandemic, there has been a 35% increase in the firearm homicide rate, and suicides by firearm also are persistently high.
