Steve Inskeep

Steve Inskeep is host of NPR's Morning Edition, the most widely heard radio news program in the United States. He co-hosts the program with Renee Montagne.

Known for his probing questions to presidents, warlords, authors, and musicians, Inskeep has a passion for the stories of the less famous—like an American soldier who lost both feet in Afghanistan; the Bordelons, who remained in their home even when it flooded during Hurricane Katrina; or New Hampshire women at a dining-room table, pondering how to vote.

Since joining Morning Edition in 2004, Inskeep has hosted the program from New Orleans, Detroit, Karachi, Cairo, and Tehran; investigated Iraqi police in Baghdad; and received a 2006 Robert F. Kennedy journalism award for "The Price of African Oil," a series on conflict in Nigeria.

Above all, Inskeep and the rest of the Morning Edition team work daily to, as he puts it, "slow down the news," to make sense of fast-moving events and focus on the real people affected.

A prime example came during the 2008 Presidential campaign, when Inskeep and Michele Norris, host of NPR's All Things Considered, conducted "The York Project," groundbreaking conversations about race, which received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for excellence.

A veteran of public and commercial radio stations in and around New York, Inskeep was hired by NPR in 1996. His first full-time assignment was the 1996 presidential primary in New Hampshire. He went on to cover the Pentagon, the Senate, and the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Inskeep covered the war in Afghanistan, the hunt for al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistan, and the war in Iraq for NPR. In 2003, he received a National Headliner Award for investigating a military raid that went wrong in Afghanistan. He has twice been part of the NPR News team that was awarded an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for its coverage of Iraq.

On days filled with bad news, Inskeep is often inspired by the Langston Hughes book, Laughing to Keep From Crying. Of hosting Morning Edition during the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession, he told Nuvo magazine when "the whole world seemed to be falling apart, it was especially important for me ... to be amused, even if I had to be cynically amused, about the things that were going wrong. Laughter is a sign that you're not defeated."

Inskeep is the author of Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, published in 2011 by The Penguin Press, a story of ordinary, often heroic people and their struggles to build one of the world's great megacities. In addition, Inskeep has written for publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. He has been a guest on TV programs including MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports and the PBS Newhour.

A native of Carmel, Indiana, Inskeep is a graduate of Morehead State University in Kentucky.

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Business
5:05 am
Tue October 2, 2012

JPMorgan Sued Over Mortgage-Backed Securities

Originally published on Tue October 2, 2012 1:08 pm

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.

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Election 2012
5:13 am
Mon October 1, 2012

GOP Distances Itself From Registration Scandal

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 6:05 am

Florida election officials are combing through voter registration forms collected by a Republican-hired firm for signs of fraud. Dozens of forms contained irregularities. The firm was picked by the Republican National Committee to conduct registration drives in five battleground states. The party, which has made fighting voter fraud a signature issue, has fired the firm.

Africa
5:13 am
Mon October 1, 2012

Nigeria Reports Increase In Polio Cases

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 6:35 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A disease that once ravaged the world, killed countless children, even famously affected President Franklin Roosevelt, has now been eradicated in all but three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The disease is polio. And at the United Nations last week, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon met leaders of those three countries, who pledged to step up efforts to wipe out polio entirely.

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Sports
5:13 am
Mon October 1, 2012

After Dramatic Comeback, Europe Wins Ryder Cup

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Those who think golf is a boring sport to watch saw otherwise at the end of the Ryder Cup yesterday. A team of 12 European golfers staged the greatest comeback ever seen in this event that dates back to well before World War II. Those 12 European golfers left a dozen American golfers stunned and embarrassed in a team event on their home course, Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. NPR's Tom Goldman has barely recovered from the shock. He's with us this morning.

Tom, good morning.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi.

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National Security
5:00 am
Fri September 28, 2012

Questions Persist About Deadly U.S. Consulate Attack

Originally published on Fri September 28, 2012 8:29 am

Two weeks after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, there remain many competing accounts of how it began. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed. Should security should have been better, and what role did al-Qaida play, if any?

Sports
4:50 am
Thu September 27, 2012

Regular NFL Refs Will Be Back On The Job Thursday

Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 5:19 am

A tentative contract agreement has been reached between the National Football League and the referees' union. The impasse began in June when the NFL locked out the officials and used replacement referees.

Europe
10:36 am
Wed September 26, 2012

Greeks Take To Streets In Anti-Austerity Protests

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

People are not getting much work done in parts of Europe. Last night, there were violent protests in Spain. They were protests against austerity measures, which is also the case in Greece, where a nationwide strike came today. It closed businesses and schools, and reporter Joanna Kakissis is following the story from Athens.

Joanna, what's been happening?

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Election 2012
4:49 am
Tue September 25, 2012

Obama, Romney To Address Clinton Global Initiative

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 12:00 pm

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep, good morning.

Read more
Asia
6:41 am
Fri September 21, 2012

Thousands In Pakistan Protest Anti-Islam Movie

Thousands of people across Pakistan are expected to take to the streets to protest against a video made in the U.S. that denigrates Islam. Pakistan's government unexpectedly announced Friday would be a public holiday, saying it would be a day to honor the prophet Muhammed. The government used it as an opportunity to also denounce the video, calling it blasphemy.

NPR Story
6:11 am
Tue September 18, 2012

Romney Force To Explain 'Victims' Comment

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 7:04 am

Mitt Romney's effort to refocus his GOP presidential campaign on substance hit a rough patch Monday night. A secretly filmed video, released by Mother Jones magazine, shows Romney saying nearly half of Americans think they are "victims." Romney says his remarks were not elegantly stated.

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