Samantha Balaban
Samantha Balaban is producer at Weekend Edition.
After receiving her M.A. in Journalism and Latin American studies from New York University, she got her start in public radio covering the James "Whitey" Bulger trial for WBUR as an intern. Since coming to NPR in 2014, she has reported on a perfume-loving tiger, traveled to Mexico to meet actor Diego Luna (and cover the elections), ridden with border patrol officers along the Rio Grande River, eaten very well in Houston, interviewed a Bangle and used her waterproof fanny pack to help keep her mic dry during hurricanes. She's also responsible for Picture This, a series of conversations with authors and illustrators.
Most days, you can find her under a pile of books and mail coordinating Weekend Edition's book coverage. On weekends, she's hanging out with her dog, Winnie.
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The city of Antakya, known in antiquity as Antioch, was at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. After the Feb. 6 earthquake, many of its centuries-old monuments and sites lie in ruins. -
Days after the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, hopes of finding people alive is waning. One U.S.-based team uses search-and-rescue dogs to try to find people still trapped days after the quake.
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JoAnne Bland was 11 when she marched in Selma on March 7, 1965, known today as "Bloody Sunday." Her tours are a window into the violence of that day and her city's role in the fight for civil rights.
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Jacques Pépin has cooked for France's president and was a friend of Julia Child. His new memoir — complete with paintings, recipes and stories — is dedicated to his love of all things chicken.
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As a young attorney, Gray helped defend some of the biggest names of the civil rights movement. If his life had a motto, it would be, as he often says, "To destroy everything segregated I could find."
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Relief supplies are reaching the quake zone, but slowly. Health care workers are exhausted, some at their jobs 24 hours a day as Haiti struggles to care for those affected by the 7.2 magnitude quake.
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Relief efforts in Haiti are being greatly hampered by the torrential rains of Tropical Storm Grace. And many people are sleeping outside because of a fear of aftershocks.
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Hunter Biden's new memoir is a story of his years of alcohol and drug addiction. He tells NPR that the one constant was the love of his family: "Their light was never not seeking me out."
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Food banks have seen demand climb dramatically this year. Eric Cooper of the San Antonio Food Bank talks about how additional federal dollars could make a difference to his clients.
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Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey have worked together on creative projects since they were kids. Their new book — illustrated with 250+ stamps — is about family, farm life, determination and hard work.
