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.
-
Health care has consistently polled as the No. 1 issue for Iowa voters. As they prepare to caucus, voters weigh which candidate to support and what health care should look like in the future. -
Young adult author Randy Ribay says it's tough having "a dual identity" in a world "where people want you to be one thing." His new novel explores the Philippine government's deadly war on drugs.
-
Verlon Jose, vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation, says President Trump's proposed border wall would cut through the reservation, with negative impacts. -
Their former homeland was a U.S. testing site for nuclear bombs, but they can't get Medicare or Medicaid in Oklahoma. A resident of Enid, Okla., who was born in the islands is trying to change that. -
MRI scans of the brains of young football players suggest that repeated blows to the head can change the shape of nerve fibers in the corpus callosum, which connects the two halves of the brain. -
A new study published by researchers at Georgia Tech reveals that the tiny spines that cover a cat's tongue play a bigger role in feline grooming than previously thought. -
As the incidents of mass shootings in the U.S. occur, some people are starting to feel numbed by them. Psychologists says this is normal. -
Behrouz Boochani has lived in detention on Manus for five years. He tells NPR about the book he wrote using WhatsApp that tells the story of his failed attempt to flee Iran for asylum in Australia. -
The colorful, crowded vehicles are a cheap and popular form of public transport. But they also pollute the air. Jeepney drivers have been pushing back against government plans to phase them out. -
In some Latin American countries, Three Kings Day — Jan. 6 — is a bigger deal than Christmas. As the U.S. Latino population grows, so does interest in the holiday's signature cake, rosca de reyes.
