Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman is a producer who occasionally directs the show. Since joining the staff in June 2015, she has produced a variety of stories including a coal mine closing near her hometown, the 2016 Republican National Convention, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in southern Bangladesh. She is also an occasional reporter for Morning Edition, and NPR.org, where she has contributed reports on both domestic and international news.
Ashley was a summer intern in 2011 with Morning Edition and pitched a story on her very first day. She went on to work as a reporter and host for member station 89.3 WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned awards covering everything from healthcare to jambalaya.
Ashley is an East-West Center 2018 Jefferson Fellow and a two-time reporting fellow with the International Center for Journalists. Through ICFJ, she has covered labor issues in her home country of the Philippines for NPR and health care in Appalachia for Voice of America.
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A new school in Kyiv aims to get more women involved in the war effort by putting them in a driver's seat where few have been before: piloting drones.
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Dozens of American parents who were in the process of adopting children from Ukraine are stuck in limbo as the war with Russia grinds on with no end in sight.
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The rural town of Balaklia was liberated as part of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive against Russia in the east. NPR was among the first group of journalists to go there.
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Andriy Tuz was at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant when it came under Russian control in March. Now in Switzerland, Tuz talks about work and life at the complex under Russian occupation.
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With permanent burial too costly for many, a priest launched a project to exhume victims, cremate them and find a lasting resting place for their ashes — all free of charge to the families. -
Boracay Island, the most popular beach in the Philippines, is making a comeback after nearly two years of pandemic restrictions. It comes as the Philippines finally reopens its borders to tourism.
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The Philippines has only one entrant in the Beijing Olympics: Asa Miller, who will take part in the men's giant slalom Sunday. But there's growing interest in winter sports in the tropical country.
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The flight arrived in Tonga five days after a massive underwater volcano erupted there – killing three people and leaving extensive tsunami damage and a blanket of fallen ash in its wake.
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Communications were still down across most of the Pacific Island nation of Tonga after a massive undersea volcano erupted over the weekend, making damage assessments difficult.
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An underwater volcano erupted Saturday near Tonga, sending tsunamis across the pacific basin.
