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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The influx of federal agents into the city last fall led to widespread immigration arrests – a majority without criminal convictions. President Trump has said he wants to replicate it elsewhere. -
President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., has been extended several times. Now it's set to last until Inauguration Day 2029. -
Jonah Neal, 25, was struck by a Homeland Security Investigations agent in May. There have been at least four deadly shootings related to the task force. -
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is pulling his National Guard early from Washington, D.C. as the chorus against Democratic governors sending troops to the city amid President Trump's ongoing deployment grows louder. -
Michigan Gov. Whitmer is one of four Democrats who sent their states' National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. ahead of America 250 celebrations in recent weeks, amid President Trump's ongoing — and controversial — deployment in the city. -
Several Democratic governors have sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., ahead of America 250, amid President Trump's highly visible — and controversial — ongoing deployment to the city. -
A new study has found that the National Guard's presence in Washington, D.C. had no effect on violent crime in the city. The Guard has been deployed since last August as part of a federal task force to fight crime, and their numbers are set to double in the coming weeks. -
In southern Lebanon, towns near the border with Israel have been largely destroyed by Israeli demolitions and strikes. Israel says it has been attacking Hezbollah infrastructure, but civilian infrastructure has also been significantly affected. -
The ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran ends soon. President Trump says a U.S. delegation is going to Pakistan for talks, but Iran hasn't confirmed their attendance.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks were meant to lay out a framework for lasting peace and to bring an end to Hezbollah's influence in the region.
