Ted Robbins
As supervising editor for Arts and Culture at NPR based at NPR West in Culver City, Ted Robbins plans coverage across NPR shows and online, focusing on TV at a time when there's never been so much content. He thinks "arts and culture" encompasses a lot of human creativity — from traditional museum offerings to popular culture, and out-of-the-way people and events.
Robbins also supervises obituaries or, as NPR prefers to call them, "appreciations," of people in the arts.
Robbins joined the Arts Desk in 2015, after a decade on air as a NPR National Desk correspondent based in Tucson, Arizona. From there, he covered the Southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.
Robbins reported on a range of issues, from immigration and border security to water issues and wildfires. He covered the economy in the West with an emphasis on the housing market and Las Vegas development. He reported on the January 2011 shooting in Tucson that killed six and injured many, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Robbins' reporting has been honored with numerous accolades, including two Emmy Awards—one for his story on sex education in schools, and another for his series on women in the workforce. He received a CINE Golden Eagle for a 1995 documentary on Mexican agriculture called "Tomatoes for the North."
In 2006, Robbins wrote an article for the Nieman Reports at Harvard about journalism and immigration. He was chosen for a 2009 French-American Foundation Fellowship focused on comparing European and U.S. immigration issues.
Raised in Los Angeles, Robbins became an avid NPR listener while spending hours driving (or stopped in traffic) on congested freeways. He is delighted to now be covering stories for his favorite news source.
Prior to coming to NPR in 2004, Robbins spent five years as a regular contributor to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, 15 years at the PBS affiliate in Tucson, and working as a field producer for CBS News. He worked for NBC affiliates in Tucson and Salt Lake City, where he also did some radio reporting and print reporting for USA Today.
Robbins earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology and his master's degree in journalism, both from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught journalism at the University of Arizona for a decade.
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Desert Bus, a parody game invented by magicians Penn and Teller, consists of driving a bus on a featureless road for hours. A comedy troupe in Canada has turned that monotony into money for charity.
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As the West moves more into a record-setting drought, many are taking a look at how water gets used. Alfalfa grown with Colorado River water is a case study of how and why water gets used as it does.
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When Arizona State University graduates hear their names announced, they have Peter Lafford to thank. It's his job to ensure students' names are pronounced correctly — and it's not always easy.
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The controversy over Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's fight with the federal government seems to have come out of nowhere. It, however, is just the latest skirmish in a fight that's goes back 150 years.
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The bush was planted in 1885 in Tombstone, back when it was a boomtown for silver mining. Blooming season lasts about six weeks — and it's almost always in bloom for Easter Sunday.
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Most of the guns in Mexico come from north of the border. The U.S. has taken steps aimed at slowing gun smugglers, especially since the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives scandal.
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In 2010, Arizona passed laws aimed at undocumented immigrants. As a result, business relations with Mexico — Arizona's biggest trading partner — began to suffer.
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Las Vegas depends on Lake Mead for its water and the reservoir is dropping. The city's water officials long ago instituted water conservation measures. Critics say they are not nearly enough.
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For the third consecutive year, one section of the U.S.-Mexico border had a higher rate of illegal crossing than any other — the Rio Grande Valley. It's the closest crossing for Central Americans fleeing violence at home, but for them, the U.S. crossing is just the last, deadly portion of the trip.
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Downhill skier Lindsey Vonn has withdrawn from the Olympics, saying a knee injury will keep her out of the competition. Vonn won two medals in the Vancouver Olympics and is among the most prominent names in the sport.