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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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.
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Following the Atlanta spa shootings in March, many Asian adoptees reported feeling unable to express their fear and sadness to their white families. Adoption agencies are trying to bridge the gap.
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Their workload has doubled. They don't go home when their shifts end lest they infect family members. But they say it's worth the sacrifices to lend a hand in the fight against COVID-19.
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The tourism industry in the Philippines lost some $8 billion in 2020 because of the pandemic. Filipinos are being encouraged to travel domestically to try to restart a crucial sector of the economy.
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The Philippines is going "brand agnostic" after a vaccination site was swarmed this week when people found out Pfizer doses were to be given out.
