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.
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NPR's Michel Martin talks about the life of Rev. Jesse Jackson, an American civil rights leader, minister, and politician, who died Tuesday at the age of 84.
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As the U.S. and Iran continue to engage indirectly in nuclear talks, what challenges remain? NPR speaks with Richard Nephew, former deputy special envoy for Iran in the Biden administration.
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson was a lifelong civil rights advocate until his death, Tuesday, at the age of 84. A look at his life and legacy.
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U.S. and Iran to meet in Geneva for second round of nuclear talks, nine people charged in Texas ICE detention center shooting go on trial, a look at the AI race between the U.S. and China.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute about how the Trump administration's approach to Iran, Ukraine and Gaza aligns with national security.
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The Chinese AI company DeepSeek shocked markets last year with a high-quality, low-cost model. It's now become clearer that China and the U.S. are running two different AI races.
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The shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is the latest example of bipartisan negotiations unraveling in the wake of a crisis that captures national attention.
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Lawmakers no closer to a deal as partial government shutdown continues, officials to meet for more talks as Ukraine war nears 4th anniversary, what is it about Olympics that gives athletes "the yips"?
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As the war in Ukraine nears its fourth anniversary, officials from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. will meet in Geneva Tuesday for another round of talks aimed at ending the war.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, about nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
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In honor of President's Day, an NPR panel picks their favorite depictions of POTUS in film.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep asks Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona about the fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.