
Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Barbara Bradley Hagerty is the religion correspondent for NPR, reporting on the intersection of faith and politics, law, science and culture. Her New York Times best-selling book, "Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality," was published by Riverhead/Penguin Group in May 2009. Among others, Barb has received the American Women in Radio and Television Award, the Headliners Award and the Religion Newswriters Association Award for radio reporting.
Before covering the religion beat, Barb was NPR's Justice Department correspondent between 1998 and 2003. Her billet included the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, Florida's disputed 2000 election, terrorism, crime, espionage, wrongful convictions and the occasional serial killer. Barbara was the lead correspondent covering the investigation into the September 11 attacks. Her reporting was part of NPR's coverage that earned the network the 2001 George Foster Peabody and Overseas Press Club awards. She has appeared on the PBS programs Washington Week and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Barb came to NPR in 1995, after attending Yale Law School on a one-year Knight Fellowship. From 1982-1993, she worked at The Christian Science Monitor as a newspaper reporter in Washington, as the Asia correspondent based in Tokyo for World Monitor (the Monitor's nightly television program on the Discovery Cable Channel) and finally as senior Washington correspondent for Monitor Radio.
Barb was graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in 1981 with a degree in economics, and has a masters in legal studies from Yale Law School.
-
People between 45 and 65 may be the loneliest segment in the U.S. And researchers are using brain scans to show that friendships are vital to staying healthy and engaged in your middle years.
-
Maya Thompson's son Ronan died of cancer three days before his fourth birthday. During his illness, she began a raw and sometimes angry blog that drew millions of readers. Thompson has since started a foundation and is funding clinical trials to find a cure for childhood cancer.
-
The Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Bishops are pushing back against what they perceive as threats to the Catholic Church's core beliefs. While some Catholics are uncomfortable with the changes under way, others say they are overdue.
-
The Defense Of Marriage Act prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages — and that means Social Security benefits don't pass on to surviving partners. A lawsuit seeks the same benefits given to heterosexual married couples.
-
The King James translation, first published 400 years ago, is celebrating a birthday of biblical proportions. It's no longer the top-selling Bible, but in those four centuries, it has woven itself deeply into our speech and culture.
-
Brian McLaren, an influential evangelical leader, suggests in a new book that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. Traditional evangelicals fiercely object to his ideas. But McLaren is tapping into a generational divide between young evangelicals and their parents.
-
After publishing an article by a proponent of intelligent design, scientist Richard Sternberg found himself the target of retaliation at the Smithsonian Institution. His case is probably the best-documented battle in the war between the vast majority of scientists and a tiny insurgency promoting an alternative to evolution.
-
The Los Angeles Archdiocese releases hundreds of pages of documents relating to sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests. The files detail accusations against nearly 130 priests. They also show that for decades, the archdiocese moved abusive priests from one parish to another.
-
The American Red Cross is garnering the lion's share of hurricane relief donations from Americans. The relief agency is written into law as the first responder to natural catastrophes. But some charities say that leaves them with fewer resources for long-term rebuilding.
-
A program that teaches abstinence is at the center of a new lawsuit against the federal government. The ACLU is filing suit against "The Silver Ring Thing," which it alleges promotes religion. The federal government granted more than $1 million to the program, under President Bush's faith-based initiative.