National Edward R. Murrow Award Winner for 2023
We Catch A Thermal And Up We Go
I followed a group of paragliders to the peak of Mount Tom — and off of it.
This story won a 2023 national Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Sound!
Listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Media
This Hard Bop, Right-Down-The-Middle, Swinging Grooving Thing
Young players hit the jazz jam session at the Drake
Listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Media
Mrs. Anderson Will Do Just Fine
Fans of blues legend Robert Johnson have been inventing racist and ridiculous stories about his origins for decades. In a new book, Johnson’s 94-year-old stepsister, Annye Anderson, tells the blues musician’s actual story — and her own.
Listen to the story below, or check it out at NPR’s All Things Considered
Remote Learning: Make it Ambitious and Make it Real
Wiley James is the knife-wielding protagonist of this piece I made for NPR’s Morning Edition.
Listen to the story below, or read the more expansive version at NPR.
The End Of The World Is Nigh — On the Q Train
"At some point I thought, 'There's no Richard. There's just an old white guy standing up in the subway car yelling.”
Listen to the story below, or check it out on NPR’s Morning Edition
Dude, That’s Gonna Hurt a Lot
Downhill Skateboarders Seek 'Mellow' 70 MPH
listen to the story below, or check it out at WBUR
Can We Stay Focused on the Fascists?
Loretta Ross Addresses the Call-Out Culture
Listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Radio
This refugee’s academic success in the US comes with plenty of complications — and joy
Rumbila Abdullahi was born in a refugee camp in Kenya. Today, she’s on her way to becoming a doctor. In many ways, she was an outlier, and her school journey came with immense pressure to succeed.
Listen to the story below, or find it at PRI’s The World
It’s OK — At Least I Got the Flame
Zoom school? Nah. Firebuilding? Yes! Wilderness schools are busy during the pandemic, with more kids than ever spending part of their week embedded in the woods. That’s great news for outdoor educators, except for one question: Who gets to go?
Listen to the story below, or check it out at NPR’s All Things Considered.
“It can be really overwhelming just being in school”
Teens are facing unprecedented mental health challenges, and emergency departments continue to be crowded with young people in crisis. And when kids get out of the hospital, they face what’s often a daunting prospect — going back to school.
Find the story at WBUR, or listen below.
Multilingualism is a Plus
English language learning programs in US schools have seen tidal changes in recent years, but perhaps nowhere as much as Burlington, Vermont.
This 2-part series aired on Vermont Public Radio and on PRI’s The World. Click the links to find the stories, or listen below.
We Are Parents With Lived Experience Raising A Child With A Mental Health Challenge
In this 3-part series for New England Public Media, I speak with 3 extraordinary mothers, plus doctors, therapists, hospital CEOs, social workers and one cool kid about the escalating crisis in youth mental health.
Part 1 is about the Pile-Up in Emergency Rooms. Part 2 is about the Limits of Acute Inpatient Care. Part 3 is about the Shortage of Child Therapists. Click on the links, or listen below.
“As Scary As A Virus In Some Ways”
This is a story about doctors and teachers — and the mental health of the teenagers they’re trying to help.
Listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Media
Let Yourself Go
This is a local version of my story about Annye Anderson, stepsister of Robert Johnson. At age 11 she performed a Ginger Rogers tune at the Palace Theater on Beale Street, while her Brother Robert pitched a “wang dang doodle” for the adults.
Listen below, or check it out at New England Public Media.
Somali Bantu Refugees Reclaim A Farming Tradition
It says a lot about Hassan Aden that he’s willing to drive up and down I-91 in order to plant, weed and harvest his own fields. It also says a lot about how hard it is to find affordable farmland in New England.
Listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Media.
Western Mass. Schools Seek Solutions for Chronic Shortage of Teachers of Color
This 3-part series explores the impacts of low teacher diversity in Holyoke, Amherst, and Northampton schools, focusing on the perspectives and experiences of the students themselves.
Check out the series at New England Public Radio — Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 — or listen directly below.
No Longer Watching the Barn Burn
Extinction Rebellion Arrives in Western Mass
listen to the stories below, and check out the feature story at New England Public Radio
Backpack, Homework, Breakfast—Just Like We Do Everyday
Re-Inventing School Food in Springfield, Mass
listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Radio
I Mean They’re Not Going Anywhere
Why One Lawyer Wants Elephants To Be Considered 'Persons'
listen to the story at New England Public Radio
"For me it’s a counter narrative, because the dominant narrative is, people from Holyoke: drug dealers, pregnancies, drop outs. And Pa’lante is providing this outlet where we can show people that being Latinos from Holyoke, we’re not who they think we are, and we’re going to prove them wrong."
listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Radio, or here at WBUR
Not all acts of confrontation and reconciliation occur in public.
listen to the story below, or check it out at WBUR, or listen to a shorter version on NPR's Here and Now
I Kept Waiting for Someone to Offer Me a Bribe, and it Never Happened
Amherst, Massachusetts, Puts its Historic Town Meeting Up for a Vote
Listen to the story below, or check it out at New England Public Radio