Kat Lonsdorf
Kat Lonsdorf is a Middle East reporter currently based in Tel Aviv.
Originally from a small town in Wisconsin, Kat attended Occidental College in Los Angeles where she majored in Diplomacy and World Affairs. She joined NPR in 2016 after earning her Masters in Journalism from Medill at Northwestern University.
Lonsdorf has produced and reported for NPR around the world, including in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Japan, Kenya, Ukraine, Georgia, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. In 2020, she was NPR's Above the Fray Fellow, reporting out a series of stories looking at clean up and recovery efforts in Fukushima, Japan after the nuclear disaster in 2011. That series made her a finalist for the Livingston Award for international reporting. She's also won both a Gracie and an Edward R Murrow award for her work.
Before she came to NPR, she was a full-time bartender in downtown Los Angeles, and also hosted and produced an education travel video series for kids called Project Explorer where she filmed in 14 countries across five continents. Lonsdorf has lived in both Japan and Jordan, and speaks Japanese and conversational Arabic. She's currently trying to learn Hebrew in the evenings. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
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As famine plagues Gaza, NPR exclusive reporting looks at the U.S. role in the humanitarian crisis. Many former officials NPR interviewed share a common refrain: Did we do enough to prevent this? -
The word "dude" is often associated with the '80s and '90s. But its origin is rooted much, much farther back in American history and it took a long and winding road to reach the coast of California. -
The State Department has shuttered the team involved in South China Sea security, getting rid of top experts on the subject at a time when the administration says security in the region is a priority. -
Iran's most fortified nuclear facility, called Fordo, is buried deep inside a mountain. Only the U.S. has the 30,000-pound bombs — often referred to as "bunker busters" — capable of reaching it. -
Today is the day of the big military parade in Washington.
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A new study details the evolutionary change of Anna's Hummingbirds, finding their beaks have grown longer and more tapered to get the most from common feeders. -
Edan Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, is the last remaining American citizen held by Hamas in Gaza who is believed to still be alive. President Trump confirmed the plans for his release. -
Israel says it ended the two-month ceasefire when it launched Tuesday's airstrikes in Gaza which killed more than 400 people and injured hundreds more. -
The Israeli military says it "eliminated" a top Hezbollah commander in a suburb of Lebanon's capital in retaliation for a deadly rocket attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. -
Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that the country's ultra-Orthodox men must serve in the army. This controversial move could threaten the future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
