Jennifer Ludden
Jennifer Ludden helps edit energy and environment stories for NPR's National Desk, working with NPR staffers and a team of public radio reporters across the country. They track the shift to clean energy, state and federal policy moves, and how people and communities are coping with the mounting impacts of climate change.
Previously, Ludden was an NPR correspondent covering family life and social issues, including the changing economics of marriage, the changing role of dads, and the ethical challenges of reproductive technology. She's also covered immigration and national security.
Ludden started reporting with NPR while based overseas in West Africa, Europe and the Middle East. She shared in two awards (Overseas Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists) for NPR's coverage of the Kosovo war in 1999, and won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for her coverage of the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When not navigating war zones, Ludden reported on cultural trends, including the dying tradition of storytellers in Syria, the emergence of Persian pop music in Iran, and the rise of a new form of urban polygamy in Africa.
Ludden has also reported from Canada and at public radio stations in Boston and Maine. She's a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in television, radio, and film production and in English.
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In Genius Factory, author and Slate columnist David Plotz traces the history of a so-called "Nobel Prize" sperm bank. Plotz tells Jennifer Ludden of his quest to find the bank's "genius" donors — most weren't what they were represented to be — and their offspring.
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A Seattle coffee shop pulls the plug on its wi-fi network. How have the caffeinated Internet-junkie customers reacted? David Latourell, the manager of Victrola Coffee, fills Jennifer Ludden in on the details.
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In recent months, scientists have discovered that some plant and animal species they thought were extinct are not. Dr. Jim Carlton, a marine biologist at Williams College in Massachusetts, tells Jennifer Ludden how scientists determine that a species is extinct.
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The White House is trying to contain possible damage from a Pentagon report on abuse of the Quran at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan says the media is blowing "isolated incidents" out of proportion.
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The giant of children's literature talks with Jennifer Ludden about his craft and his early influences. His latest book is a re-illustration of a 1948 work by his mentor, Ruth Krauss, called Bears.
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Using a questionnaire, a musical consulting company assembles a mix of songs from artists it predicts clients will like. Jennifer Ludden tried it out and received a CD with 16 songs. She talks to audiostiles.com co-founder Jeremy Abrams about how the choices are made.
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Linda Ellerbee, self-described "recovering journalist," has written a memoir that's also a bit of a travel guide. And it's about food, too. Ellerbee's new book is Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table. -
Wolves have long been cast as villains in stories, from the days of fables to Prokofieff. A new documentary shatters many lupine myths -- and shows how much like people wolves can be. Jim and Jamie Dutcher are the husband-and-wife team behind Living With Wolves.
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Host Jennifer Ludden interviews Russian political scientist Yevgeniya Albats about the Russian view of this year's V-E Day celebrations. The date has had great traditional importance for Russians, who lost more than 20 million lives in the war against Nazi Germany. Albats says this year that many Muscovites are furious about being excluded from the festivities, because the city center is off limits to all but invited dignitaries.
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Many animals, including some exotic ones, flourish along the margins of suburban development: red-tailed hawks, coyotes, snakes. Lisa Couturier tells Jennifer Ludden about her book The Hopes of Snakes. It weaves stories of animals with the lives of humans around them.
