Steve Inskeep
Steve Inskeep is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
Known for interviews with presidents and Congressional leaders, Inskeep has a passion for stories of the less famous: Pennsylvania truck drivers, Kentucky coal miners, U.S.-Mexico border detainees, Yemeni refugees, California firefighters, American soldiers.
Since joining Morning Edition in 2004, Inskeep has hosted the program from New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco, Cairo, and Beijing; investigated Iraqi police in Baghdad; and received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for "The Price of African Oil," on conflict in Nigeria. He has taken listeners on a 2,428-mile journey along the U.S.-Mexico border, and 2,700 miles across North Africa. He is a repeat visitor to Iran and has covered wars in Syria and Yemen.
Inskeep says Morning Edition works to "slow down the news," making sense of fast-moving events. A prime example came during the 2008 Presidential campaign, when Inskeep and NPR's Michele Norris conducted "The York Project," groundbreaking conversations about race, which received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for excellence.
Inskeep was hired by NPR in 1996. His first full-time assignment was the 1996 presidential primary in New Hampshire. He went on to cover the Pentagon, the Senate, and the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he covered the war in Afghanistan, turmoil in Pakistan, and the war in Iraq. In 2003, he received a National Headliner Award for investigating a military raid gone wrong in Afghanistan. He has twice been part of NPR News teams awarded the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for coverage of Iraq.
On days of bad news, Inskeep is inspired by the Langston Hughes book, Laughing to Keep From Crying. Of hosting Morning Edition during the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession, he told Nuvo magazine when "the whole world seemed to be falling apart, it was especially important for me ... to be amused, even if I had to be cynically amused, about the things that were going wrong. Laughter is a sign that you're not defeated."
Inskeep is the author of Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, a 2011 book on one of the world's great megacities. He is also author of Jacksonland, a history of President Andrew Jackson's long-running conflict with John Ross, a Cherokee chief who resisted the removal of Indians from the eastern United States in the 1830s.
He has been a guest on numerous TV programs including ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, CNN's Inside Politics and the PBS Newshour. He has written for publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic.
A native of Carmel, Indiana, Inskeep is a graduate of Morehead State University in Kentucky.
-
NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with U.S. historian Jill Lepore about her new book, "We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution."
-
In an emotional monologue Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel said it was never his "intention to make light of the murder of a young man." The host also issued a warning about threats to free speech.
-
Peter Navarro, a longtime adviser to President Trump, says time is running short to investigate the president's perceived political enemies. -
ABC's move to suspend Jimmy Kimmel comes after CBS said it will end Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" next year. Bill Carter, the author of "The War for Late Night," talks about the future of late night.
-
Taylor and Travis are engaged. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to Bryan West, a reporter who covers Taylor Swift for the USA Today Network.
-
NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with journalist and author Jon Lee Anderson about his new book, "To Lose a War." The book collects Anderson's writing from Afghanistan over a near-quarter-century span.
-
"Hamilton" creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, talks about a lesser-known song in his musical.
-
For the 10th anniversary of the debut of "Hamilton: An American Musical" on Broadway, NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Lin-Manuel Miranda about the origin and legacy of the show.
-
NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Bhaskar Pant, an expert in intercultural communication and Executive Director of MIT Professional Education, about how different cultures perceive time.
-
American Eagle's ad campaign featuring the 27-year-old star captured the internet's attention. An advertising expert says that means it worked and may signal a shift away from more inclusive ads.
