
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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As the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan last year, Marine Corps veteran Elliot Ackerman was frantically rebuilding a network of old allies to help desperate Afghans escape.
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Morning Edition asked readers to submit poems in the form of letters, addressed to anyone. NPR poet-in-residence Kwame Alexander drew from the more than 600 responses to create a community poem.
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Sri Lanka's Parliament chooses a new president. New Mexico firefighters have nearly contained a historic wildfire. And, Netflix says it lost nearly 1 million subscribers between April and June.
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A Texas House report issues blame for failures in Uvalde. Steve Bannon goes on trial Monday for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 panel. Ukraine's president fires two top officials.
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The pandemic inspired many workers to reevaluate work and home-life. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with individuals about how they try to be truer to themselves in the workplace.
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Many people traded in slacks for sweatpants during the worst of the pandemic and are now figuring out what to wear back to the office. Here's what that looks like, from Wall Street to Capitol Hill.
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The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to make changes in their lives. NPR's Rachel Martin spoke to two people about how they reinvented their careers.
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Local police in Texas say 16 people were found alive and transported to area hospitals, including 12 adults and four children. Authorities believe they were victims of human smuggling.
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NPR's Rachel Martin talks to a woman in Los Angeles, who had grown up religious, and faced a decision she never thought she would. She explains how her abortion changed her views on abortion-rights.
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Dozens of migrants are found dead in a truck in Texas. The House Jan. 6 panel schedules a last-minute hearing. NATO leaders meet in Madrid for what could be the most transformative summit in decades.