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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There was something revelatory about the way the HBO show Somebody Somewhere gently hold the spiritual identity of one of its characters. It wasn't a punchline.
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Author Simran Jeet Singh talks about how to move beyond hate and anger to see the humanity in others. -
Dr. Roland Griffiths talks about his research involving administering magic mushrooms to cancer patients and his own terminal diagnosis.
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Roland Griffiths is known as the scientist who helped prove that psychedelics can alleviate depression and mental anguish in cancer patients. That pursuit has since become a lot more personal.
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As part of the new series "Enlighten Me," NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with the actor Rainn Wilson about how his spiritual identity has evolved through his life.
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In his book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, Rainn Wilson, three-time Emmy nominee for his role in The Office, says the U.S. needs an awakening.
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NPR Poet in Residence Kwame Alexander asked listeners to write a poem about napping. We received 1,200 poems that talked about the importance of rest and relaxation.
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James Jones is a Black Mormon who is using his church's theology to teach anti-racist principles to fellow church members.
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Maia Kobabe set out to express an experience with gender identity. The graphic memoir Gender Queer is now the most banned book in the United States, according to the American Library Association.
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The famed singer, songwriter and pianist covers some holiday classics as well as two originals that she hopes will extend the shelf-life of the holiday spirit.
