Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman is a producer who occasionally directs the show. Since joining the staff in June 2015, she has produced a variety of stories including a coal mine closing near her hometown, the 2016 Republican National Convention, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in southern Bangladesh. She is also an occasional reporter for Morning Edition, and NPR.org, where she has contributed reports on both domestic and international news.
Ashley was a summer intern in 2011 with Morning Edition and pitched a story on her very first day. She went on to work as a reporter and host for member station 89.3 WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned awards covering everything from healthcare to jambalaya.
Ashley is an East-West Center 2018 Jefferson Fellow and a two-time reporting fellow with the International Center for Journalists. Through ICFJ, she has covered labor issues in her home country of the Philippines for NPR and health care in Appalachia for Voice of America.
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These foreign nationals are the silent engines that keep many of the region's cities running, but the war has exposed some of their biggest vulnerabilities. -
Just a few months into Olga Stefanishyna's job as Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S, she is helping negotiate a peace deal that could end Russia's war on Ukraine. -
Salome Zourabichvili says October 2024's parliamentary contest that saw a pro-Russia party win most of the seats was rigged by Moscow. She says she is the legitimate leader of the people of Georgia. -
The band's frontman, John Rzeznik, talks about their new EP, Summer Anthem, and how, as he approaches 60, he might consider taking guitar lessons. -
"Maybe I have become a kind of symbol of hope": Ukrainian woman survives nine-story fall in Russian drone strike. -
Nurul Haque vowed to give back to the U.S. — the country he credits with allowing him to escape from one of the bleakest humanitarian crises in the world. -
Chrissy Lovett had just opened Maui Ocean Adventures when a deadly wildfire swept through Lahaina in 2023, burning up the entire business. A year and half later, they're finally back in the water. -
Ukraine is suffering from more than a Russian invasion. Births have plummeted. But many families with help from the government and doctors are trying to buck the trend and have a child in wartime. -
Witches are having a moment in Ukraine. Now they have taken center stage in a dark musical comedy titled The Witch of Konotop, with performances selling out all summer in Kyiv. -
A program in Ukraine trains women to drive buses and large trucks — jobs typically dominated by men. But the ongoing conflict with Russia is reshaping Ukraine's economy, its job market and who is available to work.
