Here! Now! In the moment! Paddling in the middle of a fast moving stream of news and information. Here and Now is Public Radio’s daily news magazine, bringing you the news that breaks after Morning Edition, and before All Things Considered.
We are proud that the finest reporters in the world contribute to our show. We can call on David Leonhardt of the New York Times to explain the latest from Wall Street, Gail Chaddock of the Christian Science Monitor to speak to us from the halls of Congress. Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times or John Burns from the New York Times, to give a clear eyed view from whatever war torn city they are in.
And we were honored to be approached by the BBC to form a partnership, which means we can call on the estimable skills of their huge roster of reporters as well.
And we keep our eyes open on news..closer to home. Early on in the foreclosure crisis, we spoke to a Policeman in Arizona who put goldfish in abandoned swimming pools to kill mosquitos. We talked to a housing activist in Florida who is moving homeless families into abandoned homes while city officials look the other way, and recently spoke with a Sheriff in Ohio who is refusing to evict people in foreclosure. As he said, a conservative Republican sheriff aligning with the left leaning group Acorn? Only in America.
And in addition to the news, we also feature thought provoking conversations: a doctor who performs abortions, a vehemently anti abortion Republican Christian minister, (who helped the Democrats frame their language on abortion at their Convention last August). Author Maurice Sendak. Art critic Thomas Hoving, on the death of Andrew Wyeth.
And speaking of which, we round out the show everyday with the arts. Music, theater, film, food, sports, reflecting our varied interests!
And (speaking of which) we are a small but dedicated band!
Host Robin Young is a whirlwind of energy, with years of experience anchoring programs but also gathering news and producing.
Senior Producer Kathleen McKenna has spent time at PBS, Monitor Radio, and public radio. When she’s not working, she’s raising her son, raising her vegetables, and, after living in China, dreaming of future travels.
Alex Ashlock, is producer and director of the show. He has more than 2 decades experience in public radio, starting at WILL at the University of Illinois. He’s spent 11 years at WBUR, first as the senior producer of Morning Edition before joining Here and Now. Alex is sort of Here and Now’s history buff. But he also enjoys producing longer interviews with authors on current events or fiction and he contributes the occasional field piece to the show. Alex is also WBUR’s man at the Boston Marathon. He’s covered it every year since 1998, except for the one year he actually tried to run the race and didn’t finish.
Chris Ballman is a dad, and a longtime radioman, spending time at Monitor Radio and recently at Public Radio’s Living on Earth.
When producer Hitesh Hathi is not with us, he’s at Harvard going for his Ph.D. in Sanskrit. Come to think of it, his Urdu is not bad.
Whenever producer Lynn Menegon is not producing news for Here & Now, she’s dancing.
When he’s not producing, Kevin Sullivan is going for an MBA.
Producer Emiko Tamagawa studied psychology and drama at Yale and Brandeis, and is our institutional memory.
Jill Ryan was a star intern, now she’s fully on board.
And without Technical Director Doug Shugarts, well, we call that dead air.
We are curious, open minded, and tireless.
(okay, sometimes we get tired!)
