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.
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As a young attorney, Gray helped defend some of the biggest names of the civil rights movement. If his life had a motto, it would be, as he often says, "To destroy everything segregated I could find." -
Entries to the Tiny Desk Contest tend to be incredibly creative and fun — maybe none more so this year than an entry from the singer-songwriter Lillian Frances.
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Three siblings spend a summer day at the beach building sandcastles and watching them get demolished in a wordless picture book written by JonArno Lawson and illustrated by Qin Leng. -
A circus performer whose act is called "The Leap For Life" loses his nerve and gets a regular job as an elevator operator. Then a moment comes when The Great Zapfino must finally perform. -
Colin Kaepernick's kindergarten teacher gave his class an assignment: Draw a picture of your family. When he colored his family yellow and himself brown, it became a pivotal moment for his identity. -
With all its complexities, a chain of this size is hard to pull off. This one was postponed three times. But with many waiting for a kidney, it's a critical opportunity to save some lives. -
In the second part of our report from Houston Methodist Hospital, we check in with the 10-person kidney donation chain. This week, donors and recipients meet in an emotional reveal.
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The color blue is all around us, but where does it come from? In Blue, written by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and illustrated by Daniel Minter, the answer is as deep as the sea and wide as the sky. -
A grandmother brings her granddaughters to her special garden, where they learn about their connection to nature and tell stories about magical rocks, seashells, crystals and meteorites. -
Samantha Balaban and NPR's Life Kit provide insight to teaching old and new dogs new tricks.
