Brakkton Booker
Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.
He covers a wide range of topics including issues related to federal social safety net programs and news around the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
His reporting takes him across the country covering natural disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, as well as tracking trends in regional politics and in state governments, particularly on issues of race.
Following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Booker's reporting broadened to include a focus on young activists pushing for changes to federal and state gun laws, including the March For Our Lives rally and national school walkouts.
Prior to joining NPR's national desk, Booker spent five years as a producer/reporter for NPR's political unit. He spent most to the 2016 presidential campaign cycle covering the contest for the GOP nomination and was the lead producer from the Trump campaign headquarters on election night. Booker served in a similar capacity from the Louisville campaign headquarters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he produced pieces and filed dispatches from the Republican and Democratic National conventions, as well as from President Obama's reelection site in Chicago.
In the summer of 2014, Booker took a break from politics to report on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Booker started his career as a show producer working on nearly all of NPR's magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and former news and talk show Tell Me More, where he produced the program's signature Barbershop segment.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow. When he's not on the road, Booker enjoys discovering new brands of whiskey and working on his golf game.
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"I believe that the best thing for the country would be not only impeachment but removal," the presidential candidate told NPR when asked if the House inquiry was good for the country. -
The popular fashion retailer is the latest in a long list of brands to fall victim to online retailers and less foot traffic in malls. The company said it may close up to 178 U.S. stores. -
Saturday marks five years since the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement formed and leads up to the 70 th anniversary of the People's Republic of China next week. -
The former representative from California retired last year. Now he is seeking a seat in a neighboring district currently held by GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, who is facing federal corruption charges. -
In an interview that appears in an upcoming PBS documentary, Mohammed bin Salman denies he had prior knowledge of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. -
Spain's high court handed a victory to the ruling Socialist party, which has been pushing for the fascist leader to be moved from from the Valley of the Fallen near Madrid. -
Former Vice President Joe Biden was reacting to reports that President Trump pressured Ukraine's leader to investigate Biden's family. -
The veteran journalist, who died on Tuesday at 75, was one of NPR's "Founding Mothers." Roberts' funeral was held Saturday morning at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C. -
The National Weather Service in Houston said the amount of rainfall in Houston and Galveston on Thursday was "one for the record books." At least four deaths have been blamed on the storm. -
Sarah Thomas of Colorado plunged into the record books with her 54-hour feat. She finished Tuesday and said she was stung on the face by a jellyfish during the 130-mile swim. -
Picket lines began forming outside GM plants after the United Auto Workers voted Sunday to begin a strike at midnight. Nearly 50,000 workers are affected by the work stoppage. -
The U.S. Marshals Service says Blane Barksdale, 56, and wife Susan, 59, "overpowered and kidnapped" three people, including two security guards, on Aug. 26 during extradition from New York to Arizona.
