Ari Shapiro
Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.
Shapiro has reported from above the Arctic Circle and aboard Air Force One. He has covered wars in Iraq, Ukraine, and Israel, and he has filed stories from dozens of countries and most of the 50 states.
Shapiro spent two years as NPR's International Correspondent based in London, traveling the world to cover a wide range of topics for NPR's news programs. His overseas move came after four years as NPR's White House Correspondent during President Barack Obama's first and second terms. Shapiro also embedded with the campaign of Republican Mitt Romney for the duration of the 2012 presidential race. He was NPR's Justice Correspondent for five years during the George W. Bush Administration, covering debates over surveillance, detention and interrogation in the years after Sept. 11.
Shapiro's reporting has been consistently recognized by his peers. He has won two national Edward R. Murrow awards; one for his reporting on the life and death of Breonna Taylor, and another for his coverage of the Trump Administration's asylum policies on the US-Mexico border. The Columbia Journalism Review honored him with a laurel for his investigation into disability benefits for injured American veterans. The American Bar Association awarded him the Silver Gavel for exposing the failures of Louisiana's detention system after Hurricane Katrina. He was the first recipient of the American Judges' Association American Gavel Award for his work on U.S. courts and the American justice system. And at age 25, Shapiro won the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for an investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission.
An occasional singer, Shapiro makes frequent guest appearances with the "little orchestra" Pink Martini, whose recent albums feature several of his contributions, in multiple languages. Since his debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009, Shapiro has performed live at many of the world's most storied venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, The Royal Albert Hall in London and L'Olympia in Paris. In 2019 he created the show "Och and Oy" with Tony Award winner Alan Cumming, and they continue to tour the country with it.
Shapiro was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale. He began his journalism career as an intern for NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, who has also occasionally been known to sing in public.
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After some European countries blocked access to Belarusian airlines after officials arrested an opposition journalist on a commercial flight, NPR asks an expert about Putin's support for Belarus.
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In the 1980s, false accusations of satanic ritual abuse spread across the U.S. Now, QAnon has revived those fears, borrowing from the playbook of the Satanic Panic from decades prior.
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John Kerry, Biden's special envoy for climate, says climate change is an existential crisis. "And the question is, are we behaving as if it is? And the answer is no."
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"I think people fear what they don't understand," says Levine, assistant secretary for health and the first openly transgender person to serve in a Senate-confirmed position.
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The two allies are "collaborating very closely" on a response to Russian-backed cyberattacks, Ambassador to the U.S. Karen Pierce says. And she says the U.K. is still powerful after Brexit.
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Africa is lowest in the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths — but also in vaccinations. Dr. John Nkengasong says he's working on multiple fronts to secure doses and improve distribution.
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Some sectors are thriving, while others continue to struggle, putting different people in vastly different situations. NPR is following four people who will help illustrate the arc of the recovery.
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Prisons, jails and detention centers have much higher coronavirus case and fatality rates than the general public. But attitudes toward inmates mean bank tellers may get vaccinated before they do.
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Dr. Jeff Bahr with the Advocate Aurora Health system in Wisconsin says his hospitals are "ready to go" for vaccinations. Staff who treat COVID-19 patients will be first in line, he says.