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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Two months ago, the U.S. Navy finally honored Wheeler Lipes, a former pharmacist's mate who performed a life-saving emergency appendectomy aboard a submarine in enemy waters during World War II. Lipes died this week at 84. Jennifer Ludden and Navy medical historian Jan Herman remember Lipes' life.
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Some analysts argue that abuses at Abu Ghraib stemmed from confusion over the legal status of Iraqi prisoners. Jennifer Ludden takes a closer look with John Yoo, a former Justice Department legal counsel who helped write the so-called "torture memos," and Karen Greenberg, editor of The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib.
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Some Catholics have called for the immediate canonization of Pope John Paul II. But according to the rules, that can't happen for at least five years. Father Richard McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, describes the road to sainthood.
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Host Jennifer Ludden and Randy Cohen, The New York Times Magazine's ethics columnist, answer a listener's ethical dilemma. A laptop computer user wants to know if he should feel guilty for tapping into other people's wireless networks.
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Oscar-winning singer/songwriter Jorge Drexler, who started out as a medical doctor in Uruguay, tells Jennifer Ludden about his rich cultural background, his eclectic muscial mix and the U.S. debut of his latest CD, Eco.
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A sharp drop in share prices sent Wall Street to its worst week since last August. Joel Naroff, chief economist for Commerce Bank, tells Jennifer Ludden the decline has been under way for months, and in part reflects investors' concerns about high oil prices.
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Fifty years ago this week scientists announced the discovery of the polio vaccine. The disease -- also known as infantile paralysis -- affected thousands of children annually. Polio survivor Brian Fitzgerald tells Jennifer Ludden about his memories of the era before Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine.
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There's a new incentive for Cleveland residents to patron the city's art scene during the work week: more sleep. To help reinvigorate local arts, Cleveland tourism officials are touting a program called "Late Out, Late In." Employees can arrive at work two hours late if they attend an arts event the night before.
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At St. George's Chapel in Windsor, hundreds of hat-clad guests attended the ceremonial blessing marking the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Damian Barr, a commentator with the Times of London, tells Jennifer Ludden about the royal event.
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The Schiavo case has made public what is normally a private medical condition. Host Jennifer Ludden talks with Dr. Joanne Lynn, a senior scientist with the Rand Corporation, about the medical and ethical issues that surround feeding tubes.