Rob Schmitz
Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.
Prior to covering Europe, Schmitz provided award-winning coverage of China for a decade, reporting on the country's economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China's impact beyond its borders took him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Inside China, he's interviewed elderly revolutionaries, young rappers, and live-streaming celebrity farmers who make up the diverse tapestry of one of the most fascinating countries on the planet. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road (Crown/Random House 2016), a profile of individuals who live, work, and dream along a single street that runs through the heart of China's largest city. The book won several awards and has been translated into half a dozen languages. In 2018, China's government banned the Chinese version of the book after its fifth printing. The following year it was selected as a finalist for the Ryszard Kapuściński Award, Poland's most prestigious literary prize.
Schmitz has won numerous awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award. His work was also a finalist for the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. His reporting in Japan — from the hardest-hit areas near the failing Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami — was included in the publication 100 Great Stories, celebrating the centennial of Columbia University's Journalism School. In 2012, Schmitz exposed the fabrications in Mike Daisey's account of Apple's supply chain on This American Life. His report was featured in the show's "Retraction" episode. In 2011, New York's Rubin Museum of Art screened a documentary Schmitz shot in Tibetan regions of China about one of the last living Tibetans who had memorized "Gesar of Ling," an epic poem that tells of Tibet's ancient past.
From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for American Public Media's Marketplace. He's also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He also lived in Spain for two years. He speaks Mandarin and Spanish. He has a bachelor's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Volkswagen, Germany's largest employer, is facing backlash over its plans to cut wages, lay off workers, and close factories in Germany for the first time in its history.
-
Capitol Hill staple Charlie Palmer Steak will serve its last porterhouse on Friday. It became a destination for lobbyists and lawmakers.
-
Colder weather and rains hit Gazans living in tents and bombed-out buildings. Most families don't have homes or shelter. We hear from families on the edge of survival.
-
Seventeen-year-old Sophia Park has become the youngest person to pass the California bar exam, following in her older brother's footsteps.
-
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin pursues her 100th World Cup win this weekend on her home slopes in Killington, Vermont.
-
After a drop in vote share in the 2024 election, what does the future hold for third parties in America?
-
Voters are electing a new parliament and government. The race has tightened in recent days, and Sinn Fein -- a party with past links to Irish republican militants -- may still have a path to power.
-
A new documentary on Apple TV+ goes backstage with The Beatles as they prepared for their first U.S. tour in 1964.
-
Colder weather has hit Gazans living in tents and bombed-out buildings. This holiday shopping season is poised to break spending records. The influence of third party candidates seems to be waning.
-
As many sit down for a Thanksgiving feast, millions worry about where their next meal will come from. Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot talks to NPR's Rob Schmitz about hunger in the U.S.