Petra Mayer
Petra Mayer died on November 13, 2021. She has been remembered by friends and colleagues, including all of us at NPR. The Petra Mayer Memorial Fund for Internships has been created in her honor.
Petra Mayer (she/her) was an editor (and the resident nerd) at NPR Books, focusing on fiction, and particularly genre fiction. She brought to the job passion, speed-reading skills, and a truly impressive collection of Doctor Who doodads. You could also hear her on the air and on the occasional episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Prior to her role at NPR Books, she was an associate producer and director for All Things Considered on the weekends. She handled all of the show's books coverage, and she was also the person to ask if you wanted to know how much snow falls outside NPR's Washington headquarters on a Saturday, how to belly dance, or what pro wrestling looks like up close and personal.
Mayer originally came to NPR as an engineering assistant in 1994, while still attending Amherst College. After three years spending summers honing her soldering skills in the maintenance shop, she made the jump to Boston's WBUR as a newswriter in 1997. Mayer returned to NPR in 2000 after a roundabout journey that included a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a two-year stint as an audio archivist and producer at the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She still knows how to solder.
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Tangier Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, has been home to a small, self-reliant community of watermen for centuries — and now climate change is threatening to swamp the island and its way of life. -
Critic and author Jason Heller's new book traces the considerable influence of David Bowie on the science-fiction inflected music of the 1970s, from "Space Oddity" to the glittery glory of Funkadelic. -
Trick or treat! A few years ago, we celebrated Frankenstein's 200th birthday by dedicating our annual reader poll to horror stories. This Halloween, check out our list of 100 spine-tingling tales.
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San Diego Comic-Con ended on Sunday, and our intrepid correspondents Mallory Yu and Petra Mayer report on an Eisner Awards ceremony (the Oscars of comics) dominated by women and writers of color. -
The prolific fantasy and horror author says that reading stories about people who don't look like us is how we learn empathy; she makes a point of writing characters who reflect different experiences. -
On their third day at San Diego Comic-Con, NPR's Mallory Yu and Petra Mayer get into the spirit of things by dressing up as their favorite heroes and checking out the amazing costumes on display. -
Our intrepid reporters Mallory Yu and Petra Mayer take on another day of San Diego Comic-Con, from immersive fan adventures to, yes, all the Doctor Who you can shake a sonic screwdriver at. -
The huge fan convention that is San Diego Comic-Con kicks off today. NPR's Petra Mayer and Mallory Yu are there, and their look at Preview Night includes fandom, puppets and the aspirations of girls. -
The Association for Library Service to Children has voted to rename its Laura Ingalls Wilder award for children's literature, after complaints about Wilder's portrayal of Native Americans.
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We asked you to tell us about your favorite horror novels and short stories, and you gave us more than 6,500 titles. Now, meet the expert judges who'll take those parts and create a beautiful monster.
