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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There is a glaring irony of the pandemic: Countries like the island nation of Tonga that have managed to keep the virus at bay may be some of the last to recover from the economic impact. -
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with former investigative reporter Sheila Coronel about the sometimes deadly conditions that journalists in the Philippines work under.
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Following the Atlanta spa shootings in March, many Asian adoptees reported feeling unable to express their fear and sadness to their white families. Adoption agencies are trying to bridge the gap.
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NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Lyndsey D'Arcangelo of The Athletic about the WNBA playoffs, which begins with the New York Liberty, who grabbed the final slot in the tournament on a technicality.
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Their workload has doubled. They don't go home when their shifts end lest they infect family members. But they say it's worth the sacrifices to lend a hand in the fight against COVID-19. -
The tourism industry in the Philippines lost some $8 billion in 2020 because of the pandemic. Filipinos are being encouraged to travel domestically to try to restart a crucial sector of the economy.
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As the pandemic continues to ravage the Philippines, a medical emergency response team in the Metro Manila area is working to keep as many non-coronavirus patients out of the hospitals as possible.
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The Philippine National Police have announced that many officers will now wear body cameras. This comes years into a war on drugs in which police have killed thousands during anti-drug operations.
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NewsThe Philippines is going "brand agnostic" after a vaccination site was swarmed this week when people found out Pfizer doses were to be given out. -
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Elizabeth City, N.C. Mayor Bettie Parker, who declared a state of emergency in her city ahead of the release of bodycam video to the family of Andrew Brown Jr.
