Samantha Balaban
Samantha Balaban is a producer at Weekend Edition.
After receiving her M.A. in Journalism and Latin American studies from New York University, she got her start in public radio covering the James "Whitey" Bulger trial for WBUR as an intern. Since coming to NPR in 2014, she has reported on a perfume-loving tiger, traveled to Mexico to meet actor Diego Luna (and cover the elections), ridden with border patrol officers along the Rio Grande River, eaten very well in Houston, interviewed a Bangle and used her waterproof fanny pack to help keep her mic dry during hurricanes. She's also responsible for Picture This, a series of conversations with authors and illustrators.
Most days, you can find her under a pile of books and mail coordinating Weekend Edition's book coverage. On weekends, she's hanging out with her dog, Winnie.
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Residents of a kibbutz near Israel's border with Gaza are living in a hotel after Hamas killed dozens of people and destroyed homes in their community. -
In the Israeli town of Sderot, less than a mile from the Gaza Strip, there are remnants and recollections of carnage from Hamas' ongoing attack. -
The latest children's book from Julie Andrews, Emma Walton Hamilton and illustrator Elly McKay is about the power of nature and music. They discussed their creative process in an interview with NPR. -
David Álvarez's twist on traditional myths from Mesoamerica is about rivalry, jealousy and making amends. What started as a wordless picture book now has text by author David Bowles. -
Kevin Young first wrote his story about Emile, a boy in love with a field, as a bedtime poem for his son years ago. Now, it lives on as a picture book with watercolor illustrations by Chioma Ebinama. -
Summer is for swimming, playing cards and talking all night. Summer is for ice cream and doing nothing. And, in this new picture book from Rajani LaRocca and Abhi Alwar, summer is also for cousins. -
A shared love of jazz led author Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrator James Ransome to discover inventor Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax and the instrument named after him. -
The city of Antakya, known in antiquity as Antioch, was at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. After the Feb. 6 earthquake, many of its centuries-old monuments and sites lie in ruins. -
Days after the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, hopes of finding people alive is waning. One U.S.-based team uses search-and-rescue dogs to try to find people still trapped days after the quake. -
Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith created The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales in 1992. They remember their work on the classic children's book and how their partnership began.
