Samantha Balaban
Samantha Balaban is a Senior Producer at Weekend Edition. Most days, you can find her under a pile of books and mail coordinating the show's book coverage. She's also responsible for Picture This, a series of conversations with authors and illustrators.
She has traveled to Ukraine, where she helped coordinate coverage of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. She arrived in Israel on October 9, 2023 — her work covering Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza won a National Press Club award and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. She also worked as NPR's coordinating producer in Lebanon in 2024.
Balaban 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 worked at Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. She's covered multiple hurricanes as well as earthquakes in Haiti and Turkey. She produced stories from Pakistan for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. She's watched a kidney transplant and ridden with border patrol officers along the Rio Grande. She's also had a lot of fun: celebrating the 250th anniversary of the song "Amazing Grace," meeting actor Diego Luna in Mexico (and covering the elections), interviewing a Bangle and going clubbing — for work! Jaques Pépin once made her a French omelette and she's eaten very well in Houston — and Charleston — and New York City — and also at home in Washington, D.C.
Originally from Lexington, Mass., Balaban has a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She received her master's degree in Journalism and Latin American studies from New York University.
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In the Lower Ninth Ward, an old Family Dollar stands covered in graffiti. It looks abandoned. But inside, it's a treasure trove — clothing, home goods, toys and books. And everything is free. -
For many people from former Soviet countries, New Year's is a big holiday feast time. A Ukrainian restaurant in Washington gives NPR a taste of what's on the menu. -
Reporter Kevin Sack's new book is a history of Charleston's Emanuel AME Church, the oldest Black congregation in the South, where a white supremacist killed nine worshippers a decade ago. -
A little boy must go on a hero's quest — through woods full of oak trees and a bamboo forest — to discover "The Truth About Dragons" in Julie Leung and Hanna Cha's Caldecott Honor children's book. -
Ellie Barber, who performs as Ollella, talks about memory, loss and ongoing love with her Tiny Desk Contest entry, "Tea Kettle Tea." -
Ernesto's mom gives him a quarter every morning. "For emergencies," she says. "If you need me, look for a pay phone." Hey, it was the '90s! But how will Ernesto spend his Emergency Quarters? -
Detroit's population is growing, a first since the 1950s. The uptick is small but significant for a city that's struggled for decades.
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Did you know on average a sloth will fall out of a tree once a week for its entire life? It's true — and the inspiration for Brian Cronin and Doreen Cronin's new children's book, Mama in the Moon. -
There's trouble in the town of Bad Göodsburg! A wishing well has stopped working! NPR's Tamara Keith talks with Jess Hannigan about her new children's book, "Spider in the Well." -
When actor George Takei was 4 years old, he was labeled an "enemy" by the U.S. government and sent to a string of incarceration camps. His new children's book about that time is My Lost Freedom.
