
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 Steve Inskeep speaks with Ty Cobb, a former Trump White House lawyer turned critic of the president, about Trump administration efforts to investigate and prosecute perceived wrongs.
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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.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, about efforts to remap congressional districts, and what President Trump's proposed new census could mean.
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After his town hall this week wrapping with chants of "Vote him out!" Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood told Morning Edition he understands it is "cathartic" for constituents to voice their opinions.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep asks economist Paul Krugman what effect President Trump's latest tariff announcements might have on the economy.
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"Hamilton" creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, talks about a lesser-known song in his musical.
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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.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep asks author Barry Levine about the subpoenas issued by the Republican-led House for depositions from former top officials, including the Clintons, on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with the Wall Street Journal's Isabella Simonetti about a deal that gives the NFL a 10% stake in ESPN. Under the terms, ESPN will acquire the NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators.
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NPR's Steve Inskeep asks Mayor Andy Schor of Lansing, Mich., about the potential impact of tariffs on the city that is home to two General Motors plants.