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.
-
Summer is for swimming, playing cards and talking all night. Summer is for ice cream and doing nothing. And, in this new picture book from Rajani LaRocca and Abhi Alwar, summer is also for cousins. -
A shared love of jazz led author Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrator James Ransome to discover inventor Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax and the instrument named after him. -
NPR's Scott Simon speaks with singer-songwriter Kali Uchis about her soulful new album 'Red Moon in Venus' and the inspiration behind it. -
The city of Antakya, known in antiquity as Antioch, was at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. After the Feb. 6 earthquake, many of its centuries-old monuments and sites lie in ruins. -
Days after the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, hopes of finding people alive is waning. One U.S.-based team uses search-and-rescue dogs to try to find people still trapped days after the quake. -
Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith created The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales in 1992. They remember their work on the classic children's book and how their partnership began. -
JoAnne Bland was 11 when she marched in Selma on March 7, 1965, known today as "Bloody Sunday." Her tours are a window into the violence of that day and her city's role in the fight for civil rights. -
When illustrator Molly Idle read the text of Julie Fogliano's children's book, she immediately thought of her buddy Juana Martinez-Neal — and in true friend form — she volunteered her for the job. -
Crescent Dragonwagon was in her 20s when she wrote a story told entirely in dialogue between a mother and her child. Now, she's updating her 1977 text with new illustrations by Jessica Love. -
In the 1978 children's classic, it rains soup, it snows mashed potatoes, and hotdogs blow in from the northeast. Judi and Ron Barrett look back on their delectable tale of the town of Chewandswallow.
