Rachel Martin
Rachel Martin is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
Before taking on this role in December 2016, Martin was the host of Weekend Edition Sunday for four years. Martin also served as National Security Correspondent for NPR, where she covered both defense and intelligence issues. She traveled regularly to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Secretary of Defense, reporting on the U.S. wars and the effectiveness of the Pentagon's counterinsurgency strategy. Martin also reported extensively on the changing demographic of the U.S. military – from the debate over whether to allow women to fight in combat units – to the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Her reporting on how the military is changing also took her to a U.S. Air Force base in New Mexico for a rare look at how the military trains drone pilots.
Martin was part of the team that launched NPR's experimental morning news show, The Bryant Park Project, based in New York — a two-hour daily multimedia program that she co-hosted with Alison Stewart and Mike Pesca.
In 2006-2007, Martin served as NPR's religion correspondent. Her piece on Islam in America was awarded "Best Radio Feature" by the Religion News Writers Association in 2007. As one of NPR's reporters assigned to cover the Virginia Tech massacre that same year, she was on the school's campus within hours of the shooting and on the ground in Blacksburg, Va., covering the investigation and emotional aftermath in the following days.
Based in Berlin, Germany, Martin worked as a NPR foreign correspondent from 2005-2006. During her time in Europe, she covered the London terrorist attacks, the federal elections in Germany, the 2006 World Cup and issues surrounding immigration and shifting cultural identities in Europe.
Her foreign reporting experience extends beyond Europe. Martin has also worked extensively in Afghanistan. She began reporting from there as a freelancer during the summer of 2003, covering the reconstruction effort in the wake of the U.S. invasion. In fall 2004, Martin returned for several months to cover Afghanistan's first democratic presidential election. She has reported widely on women's issues in Afghanistan, the fledgling political and governance system and the U.S.-NATO fight against the insurgency. She has also reported from Iraq, where she covered U.S. military operations and the strategic alliance between Sunni sheiks and the U.S. military in Anbar province.
Martin started her career at public radio station KQED in San Francisco, as a producer and reporter.
She holds an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.
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NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Wilson Center senior fellow Jean Lee about North Korea acknowledging a tense food situation and how flooding, sanctions and other issues are adding to the problem.
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Néstor was 11 when he and his dad, Melvin, left El Salvador and crossed into Texas in 2018. They were separated for over two months, split apart by the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy. -
Manas Ray, a biochemist in Cambridge, Mass., wrote "Praying From A Distance" about the toll COVID-19 has taken on his family in India. He submitted it as part of an NPR poetry callout last month. -
For the final entry in Morning Edition's Song Project series, Vijay Iyer wrote a rhizomatic, inviting — and not entirely placating — instrumental piece to encapsulate his past year. -
Poet Kwame Alexander has created a poem from submissions about the challenges of the past year and our dreams for the future. It ends with: "For through the struggle, we may hope to become stronger." -
The singer, one of the most celebrated gospel singers of her generation, Leonard had as tough a year as any – and, with a new song and new ministry, she wants to help. -
More women than men left the workforce during the pandemic, many because they had to care for children. A business council wants companies to take the lead in expanding child care and elder care. -
The National Restaurant Association is recommending to its members that employees continue to wear masks until the government clarifies how the guidance applies to a requirement to keep workers safe. -
An attorney for Andrew Brown Jr.'s family is disputing a North Carolina prosecutor's contention that Brown used his vehicle as a deadly weapon against deputies who fatally shot him. -
Bill Siegel works with companies that fall victim to the same type of ransomware attack that disrupted fuel supplies across large parts of the South and East Coast last week.
