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.
-
House panel votes to hold Mark Meadows in contempt. Searches continue for the missing after Kentucky's tornadoes. Abuse survivors reach a settlement with USA Gymnastics and Olympic committee.
-
A House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has voted to hold former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt, revealing new details in his text messages.
-
As omicron spreads and delta continues to circulate, the U.S. is nearing 800,000 COVID-19 deaths. But new survey data point to relaxed attitudes across the country, even amid new surges.
-
Dozens have been killed by devastating tornadoes across the Midwest. The U.S. is nearing 800,000 coronavirus related deaths. And, an icon of traditional Mexican music has died.
-
Reports from global media watchdogs suggest it is true: press freedoms in Pakistan are deteriorating. Why is Pakistan's media under pressure, and where is that pressure coming from?
-
The CDC is now recommending booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 16 and older. The recommendation comes as cases surge across the country, putting pressure on many hospitals.
-
New York's attorney general wants to question ex-president Trump in a civil fraud case. U.S. Delta cases surge. A Michigan school district, its officials and some staff, are sued after a shooting.
-
President Biden has invited more than 100 countries to a virtual summit on democracy. But some of the names on the list are drawing questions over their own democratic practices.
-
President Biden will virtually host a summit for countries to talk about democracy. A new poll indicates the president has low approval ratings. Instagram's CEO defends the platform before Congress.
-
Adam Mosseri pushed back on research showing social media is harmful for mental health during testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security.
-
The U.S. warns Russia it will face tough sanctions if it invades Ukraine. What is Instagram doing to keep its youngest users safe? A former NFL player died in police custody Monday in Alabama.
-
President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet by video conference Tuesday. At the top of their agenda is the escalating tension over Ukraine.