Melissa Block
As special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs, Melissa Block brings her signature combination of warmth and incisive reporting. Her work over the decades has earned her journalism's highest honors, and has made her one of NPR's most familiar and beloved voices.
As co-host of All Things Considered from 2003 to 2015, Block's reporting took her everywhere from the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the heart of Rio de Janeiro; from rural Mozambique to the farthest reaches of Alaska.
Her riveting reporting from Sichuan, China, during and after the massive earthquake in 2008 brought the tragedy home to millions of listeners around the world. At the moment the earthquake hit, Block had the presence of mind to record a gripping, real-time narration of the seismic upheaval she was witnessing. Her long-form story about a desperate couple searching in the rubble for their toddler son was singled out by judges who awarded NPR's earthquake coverage the top honors in broadcast journalism: the George Foster Peabody Award, duPont-Columbia Award, Edward R. Murrow Award, National Headliner Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award.
Now, as special correspondent, Block continues to engage both the heart and the mind with her reporting on issues from gun violence to adult illiteracy to opioid addiction.
In 2017, she traveled the country for the series "Our Land," visiting a wide range of communities to explore how our identity is shaped by where we live. For that series, she paddled along the Mississippi River, went in search of salmon off the Alaska coast, and accompanied an immigrant family as they became U.S. citizens. Her story about the legacy of the Chinese community in the Mississippi Delta earned her a James Beard Award in 2018.
Block is the recipient of the 2019 Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, awarded by the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, as well as the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fulbright Association.
Block began her career at NPR in 1985 as an editorial assistant for All Things Considered, and rose through the ranks to become the program's senior producer.
She was a reporter and correspondent in New York from 1994 to 2002, a period punctuated by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Her reporting after those attacks helped earn NPR a George Foster Peabody Award. Block's reporting on rape as a weapon of war in Kosovo was cited by the Overseas Press Club of America in awarding NPR the Lowell Thomas Award in 1999.
Block is a 1983 graduate of Harvard University and spent the following year on a Fulbright fellowship in Geneva, Switzerland. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband — writer Stefan Fatsis — and their daughter.
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Kristofferson, who wrote indelible songs about lovers, loners and boozers, has died at age 88. He later became a screen star. His performance in "A Star Is Born" earned him a Golden Globe in 1976.
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Florida's medical boards have voted to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Families with trans children and medical providers who care for them are worried about the impact. -
Deb Perelman, creator of the hugely popular Smitten Kitchen website, whips up some budget-conscious, vegetable-centric Thanksgiving side dishes. Her new cookbook is Smitten Kitchen Keepers. -
Ken Barcus, longtime Midwest bureau chief on NPR's National Desk, has died at age 67. He took great pride in countering stereotypes of the Midwest and in mentoring scores of young reporters. -
An ob-gyn and nurse-midwife are gearing up to open an all-trimester abortion clinic near Washington, D.C. They aim to provide abortions later in pregnancy and serve women from states with bans. -
NPR's Melissa Block speaks to musician Regina Spektor, who's known for her lyricism, about her first album in six years, "Home, Before And After."
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One of the most popular Minecraft players on YouTube, known as "Technoblade," died this week after a battle with cancer. In a farewell message, he finally divulged his first name: Alex.
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NPR's Melissa Block talks with author Morgan Talty about his book, "Night of the Living Rez," a series of short stories about members of a Native American tribe wrestling with poverty and addiction.
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NPR's Melissa Block speaks with Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media about the coming changes in college sports conferences, NBA free agency, and Serena Williams' Wimbledon comeback.
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NPR's Melissa Block speak with Houston Chronicle reporter Elizabeth Trovall about how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on immigration policy and how the death of 53 migrants this week is related.
