Leila Fadel
Leila Fadel is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
As a national correspondent, Fadel consistently reported on the fault lines of this divided nation. She flew to Minneapolis in the midst of the pandemic as the city erupted in grief and anger over the killing of George Floyd. She's reported on policing and race, on American Muslim communities and on the jarring inequities the coronavirus laid bare in the healthcare system. Her "Muslims in America: A New Generation" series, in collaboration with National Geographic, won the prestigious Goldziher Prize in 2019.
Previously, she was NPR's international correspondent based in Cairo and covered the wave of revolts in the Middle East and their aftermaths in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and beyond. Her stories brought listeners to the heart of a state-ordered massacre of pro-Muslim Brotherhood protesters in Cairo in 2013 when police shot into crowds of people to clear them and killed between 1,000 and 2,000 people. She told the tales of a coup in Egypt and what it is like for a country to go through a military overthrow of an elected government. She covered the fall of Mosul to ISIS in 2014 and documented the harrowing tales of the Yazidi women who were kidnapped and enslaved by the group. Her coverage also included stories of human smugglers in Egypt and the Syrian families desperate and willing to pay to risk their lives and cross a turbulent ocean for Europe.
She was awarded the Lowell Thomas Award from the Overseas Press Club for her coverage of the 2013 coup in Egypt and the toll it took on the country and Egyptian families. In 2017 she earned a Gracie award for the story of a single mother in Tunisia whose two eldest daughters were brainwashed and joined ISIS. The mother was fighting to make sure it didn't happen to her younger girls.
Before joining NPR, Fadel covered the Middle East for The Washington Post as the Cairo Bureau Chief. Prior to her position as Cairo Bureau Chief for the Post, she covered the Iraq war for nearly five years with Knight Ridder, McClatchy Newspapers, and later the Washington Post. Her foreign coverage of the devastating human toll of the Iraq war earned her the George. R. Polk award in 2007. In 2016 she was the Council on Foreign Relations Edward R. Murrow fellow.
Fadel is a Lebanese-American journalist who speaks conversational Arabic and was raised in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
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In an interview with Morning Edition's Leila Fadel, the fast-rising artist talks about a life path as winding and varied as his music.
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1982 is a love story set against the backdrop of war, when Israel invaded Lebanon 40 years ago. Lebanese filmmaker Oualid Mouaness, inspired by his own memories, wrote the and directed the film.
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The pop star has spent a life on the go, so the pandemic offered him a rare chance for reflection, to separate the person from the pop star. Also, of course, to record a new album.
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Tank and the Bangas' third studio album, Red Balloon, celebrates Black life and reckons with America's ills. NPR's Leila Fadel talks to lead singer Tarriona "Tank" Ball.
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Put up to protect buildings from civil unrest, the boards have become vehicles of expression for devastated and angry Minnesotans.
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After hearing a speech by filmmaker Spike Lee, composer Ted Hearne teamed up with the poet Saul Williams to remap the history of his neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., through the language of music.
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More than 2 million people call greater Las Vegas home, locals say visitors miss its hidden gems. Such as this night of entertainment — not your typical Vegas show. Proceeds go to area charities.
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Mondays Dark is a show that's for Las Vegas, a city seen by many as a place to go crazy and then leave. The city's performers volunteer to entertain a local audience and raise money for charity.
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Author Isabel Quintero and illustrator Zeke Peña worked together on My Papi Has a Motorcycle, a homage to Quintero's childhood in California's Inland Empire, and to her hard-working father.
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Ice balls melt slowly and impress everyone. Provide toothbrushes and bathrobes for overnight guests. And if your budget is tight, mac and cheese and a bottle of good wine can go a very long way.