Rachel Martin
Rachel Martin is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
Before taking on this role in December 2016, Martin was the host of Weekend Edition Sunday for four years. Martin also served as National Security Correspondent for NPR, where she covered both defense and intelligence issues. She traveled regularly to Iraq and Afghanistan with the Secretary of Defense, reporting on the U.S. wars and the effectiveness of the Pentagon's counterinsurgency strategy. Martin also reported extensively on the changing demographic of the U.S. military – from the debate over whether to allow women to fight in combat units – to the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Her reporting on how the military is changing also took her to a U.S. Air Force base in New Mexico for a rare look at how the military trains drone pilots.
Martin was part of the team that launched NPR's experimental morning news show, The Bryant Park Project, based in New York — a two-hour daily multimedia program that she co-hosted with Alison Stewart and Mike Pesca.
In 2006-2007, Martin served as NPR's religion correspondent. Her piece on Islam in America was awarded "Best Radio Feature" by the Religion News Writers Association in 2007. As one of NPR's reporters assigned to cover the Virginia Tech massacre that same year, she was on the school's campus within hours of the shooting and on the ground in Blacksburg, Va., covering the investigation and emotional aftermath in the following days.
Based in Berlin, Germany, Martin worked as a NPR foreign correspondent from 2005-2006. During her time in Europe, she covered the London terrorist attacks, the federal elections in Germany, the 2006 World Cup and issues surrounding immigration and shifting cultural identities in Europe.
Her foreign reporting experience extends beyond Europe. Martin has also worked extensively in Afghanistan. She began reporting from there as a freelancer during the summer of 2003, covering the reconstruction effort in the wake of the U.S. invasion. In fall 2004, Martin returned for several months to cover Afghanistan's first democratic presidential election. She has reported widely on women's issues in Afghanistan, the fledgling political and governance system and the U.S.-NATO fight against the insurgency. She has also reported from Iraq, where she covered U.S. military operations and the strategic alliance between Sunni sheiks and the U.S. military in Anbar province.
Martin started her career at public radio station KQED in San Francisco, as a producer and reporter.
She holds an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.
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The veteran rock star speaks with Morning Edition about his new memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story — and in particular, his deep-rooted spirituality.
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The LA-based group was, naturally, waylaid by the pandemic — just enough to write a new record, Radiate Like This. -
Anne Helen Petersen is the co-author of a new book on the future of remote work. She says companies need to clearly know what goal they are pursuing when asking remote workers to come back in person. -
After nearly three decades spent producing massive hits for a long list of (other) legends including Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, the pair called in some favors for a long-belated debut. -
Manas Ray, a biochemist in Cambridge, Mass., wrote "Praying From A Distance" about the toll COVID-19 has taken on his family in India. He submitted it as part of an NPR poetry callout last month. -
The National Restaurant Association is recommending to its members that employees continue to wear masks until the government clarifies how the guidance applies to a requirement to keep workers safe. -
Children's immunizations dropped dramatically during the pandemic, and health officials are eager to get kids caught back up on their routine shots before they return to school. -
The release of the band's 10th album, and a world tour in support of it, had to be put on hold thanks to you-know-what. But there's only so long folks can wait before needing some release. -
2020 was set to be a fruitful year for the artist, full of travel and music. In her contribution to Morning Edition's Song Project, she faces the reality of that loss and finds hope in starting over. -
For many people this year, navigating grief from personal losses, like breakups and miscarriages, amid the drama of the pandemic has felt ... awkward. Here, stories of coping amid collective grief.
