Thomas Lu

Thomas Lu (he/him) is a producer for NPR's science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast is a perfect equation of curiosity, nerdiness and everyday discoveries.

Lu came to NPR in 2017 as an intern for theTED Radio Hourwith Guy Raz. After his internship, he continued to develop his radio skills working with How I Built This, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and Pop Culture Happy Hour. He pitched and produced All Things Considered's annual Thanksgiving music segment with Ari Shapiro.

Lu was then hired as a producer for Hidden Brain — where he worked on episodes ranging from the benefits of nature to the importance of the human voice to our hidden influence on others. He contributed to the Hidden Brain episode "The Ventilator," which earned an Edward R. Murrow award in 2020.

Prior to NPR, Lu interned for StoryCorps in Brooklyn, New York.

Lu is a 2020 AIR New Voices Scholar. He graduated from Middlebury College in 2016 with a degree in psychology. Oh, and he's a huge fan of the Golden Girls.

News Partners

Whose Utopia? How Science Used The Bodies Of People Deemed 'Less Than'

Shankar Vedantam

There is a long legacy of leaders exploiting the bodies of vulnerable people in the name of science. This week, the history of eugenics and medical experimentation on enslaved people in the U.S.
News Partners

Trying To Do Good

Shankar Vedantam

We know our actions affect those around us. But how do we know whether our impact is positive? This week on Hidden Brain, what it means to do good in the world.
Yum and Yuck: The Psychology Of What We Eat...And What We Spit Out

Shankar Vedantam

This week on the Hidden Brain radio show, we dig into the culture and psychology that determines the foods that make us salivate and the scents that make us squirm.