Samantha Balaban
Samantha Balaban is a producer at Weekend Edition.
After receiving her M.A. in Journalism and Latin American studies from New York University, she got her start in public radio covering the James "Whitey" Bulger trial for WBUR as an intern. Since coming to NPR in 2014, she has reported on a perfume-loving tiger, traveled to Mexico to meet actor Diego Luna (and cover the elections), ridden with border patrol officers along the Rio Grande River, eaten very well in Houston, interviewed a Bangle and used her waterproof fanny pack to help keep her mic dry during hurricanes. She's also responsible for Picture This, a series of conversations with authors and illustrators.
Most days, you can find her under a pile of books and mail coordinating Weekend Edition's book coverage. On weekends, she's hanging out with her dog, Winnie.
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Angelina is a determined little mouse in a pink tutu who dreams of becoming a ballerina. Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig revisit their beloved character, the star of more than 25 picture books. -
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe visits the food writer's home to talk and cook. Clark has a new book of recipes promising minimal fuss (and dirty dishes). -
As a young attorney, Gray helped defend some of the biggest names of the civil rights movement. If his life had a motto, it would be, as he often says, "To destroy everything segregated I could find." -
Three siblings spend a summer day at the beach building sandcastles and watching them get demolished in a wordless picture book written by JonArno Lawson and illustrated by Qin Leng. -
Colin Kaepernick's kindergarten teacher gave his class an assignment: Draw a picture of your family. When he colored his family yellow and himself brown, it became a pivotal moment for his identity. -
With all its complexities, a chain of this size is hard to pull off. This one was postponed three times. But with many waiting for a kidney, it's a critical opportunity to save some lives. -
The color blue is all around us, but where does it come from? In Blue, written by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and illustrated by Daniel Minter, the answer is as deep as the sea and wide as the sky. -
Meet Mr. Sidney, who's always sharply dressed. Belle, who catches butterflies in jar. And the Hat Lady, Ms. Sarah. They're just some of the residents of Dream Street, the best street in the world. -
Afghans are trying to reach Pakistan via the frontier near the Khyber Pass, but Pakistan is wary of more refugees. Cargo trucks are backed up for miles, waiting to deliver goods into Afghanistan. -
Relief supplies are reaching the quake zone, but slowly. Health care workers are exhausted, some at their jobs 24 hours a day as Haiti struggles to care for those affected by the 7.2 magnitude quake.
