Ari Shapiro
Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.
Shapiro has reported from above the Arctic Circle and aboard Air Force One. He has covered wars in Iraq, Ukraine, and Israel, and he has filed stories from dozens of countries and most of the 50 states.
Shapiro spent two years as NPR's International Correspondent based in London, traveling the world to cover a wide range of topics for NPR's news programs. His overseas move came after four years as NPR's White House Correspondent during President Barack Obama's first and second terms. Shapiro also embedded with the campaign of Republican Mitt Romney for the duration of the 2012 presidential race. He was NPR's Justice Correspondent for five years during the George W. Bush Administration, covering debates over surveillance, detention and interrogation in the years after Sept. 11.
Shapiro's reporting has been consistently recognized by his peers. He has won two national Edward R. Murrow awards; one for his reporting on the life and death of Breonna Taylor, and another for his coverage of the Trump Administration's asylum policies on the US-Mexico border. The Columbia Journalism Review honored him with a laurel for his investigation into disability benefits for injured American veterans. The American Bar Association awarded him the Silver Gavel for exposing the failures of Louisiana's detention system after Hurricane Katrina. He was the first recipient of the American Judges' Association American Gavel Award for his work on U.S. courts and the American justice system. And at age 25, Shapiro won the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for an investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission.
An occasional singer, Shapiro makes frequent guest appearances with the "little orchestra" Pink Martini, whose recent albums feature several of his contributions, in multiple languages. Since his debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009, Shapiro has performed live at many of the world's most storied venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, The Royal Albert Hall in London and L'Olympia in Paris. In 2019 he created the show "Och and Oy" with Tony Award winner Alan Cumming, and they continue to tour the country with it.
Shapiro was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale. He began his journalism career as an intern for NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, who has also occasionally been known to sing in public.
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As people start to re-emerge from isolation, there's a lot to navigate and re-learn. Dr. Lucy McBride and theologian Ekemini Uwan field questions from listeners about how to navigate our new reality. -
Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson is fighting for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. In her county, one health clinic in a predominantly Black area has yet to administer any doses.
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Africa is lowest in the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths — but also in vaccinations. Dr. John Nkengasong says he's working on multiple fronts to secure doses and improve distribution.
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Military veteran Grover Nicodemus Street has been a nurse for 20-plus years. Chasing coronavirus hot spots around the country, he's seen 3,000 people die, including the first patient in his care. -
By some measures, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may appear to be less effective than Moderna and Pfizer. But Dr. Ashish Jha says when it comes to hospitalizations and deaths, it's just as good.
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Some sectors are thriving, while others continue to struggle, putting different people in vastly different situations. NPR is following four people who will help illustrate the arc of the recovery.
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A disproportionately small number of Black and Hispanic Americans have gotten vaccinated so far. Samantha Artiga of the Kaiser Family Foundation discusses barriers to access and what needs to be done.
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Prisons, jails and detention centers have much higher coronavirus case and fatality rates than the general public. But attitudes toward inmates mean bank tellers may get vaccinated before they do.
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Dr. Jeff Bahr with the Advocate Aurora Health system in Wisconsin says his hospitals are "ready to go" for vaccinations. Staff who treat COVID-19 patients will be first in line, he says.
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Some Americans say they don't want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with the Ad Council's CEO about public health messaging and ways to reach vaccine skeptics.
