Michel Martin is curious about many things. "I wonder what it's like to leave everything and everyone you know for the promise of a better life, to run for President, to be a professional athlete, to parent children of a different race," she notes. "I am fascinated by people who live lives different from my own. And at the same time, I feel connected to all of these lives being a journalist, a woman of color, a wife and mother."
Michel can be heard across NPR news programs, bringing her deep reporting and interviewing experience to bear on NPR's coverage of relevant topics, including education, families, faith, race and social issues. In September, 2015, she became the new weekend host of All Things Considered, striking up conversations and digging in to the week's news. Outside the studio, she is hosting "Michel Martin: Going There," an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member Stations.
Martin came to NPR in 2006 and launched Tell Me More, a one-hour daily NPR news and talk show that aired on NPR stations nationwide from 2007-2014 and dipped into thousands of important conversations taking place in the corridors of power, but also in houses of worship, and barber shops and beauty shops, at PTA meetings, town halls, and at the kitchen table.
She has spent more than 25 years as a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Tell Me More marked her debut as a full-time public radio show host. "What makes public radio special is that it's got both intimacy and reach all at once. For the cost of a phone call, I can take you around the world. But I'm right there with you in your car, in your living room or kitchen or office, in your iPod. Radio itself is an incredible tool and when you combine that with the global resources of NPR plus the commitment to quality, responsibility and civility, it's an unbeatable combination."
Martin has also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR news magazines and talk shows, including Talk of the Nation and News & Notes.
Martin joined NPR from ABC News, where she worked since 1992. She served as correspondent for Nightline from 1996 to 2006, reporting on such subjects as the Congressional budget battles, the US embassy bombings in Africa, racial profiling and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At ABC, she also contributed to numerous programs and specials, including the network's award-winning coverage of September 11, a documentary on the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas controversy, a critically acclaimed AIDS special and reports for the ongoing series America in Black and White. Martin reported for the ABC newsmagazine Day One, winning an Emmy for her coverage of the international campaign to ban the use of landmines, and was a regular panelist on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. She also hosted the 13-episode series Life 360, an innovative program partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting and Nightline incorporating documentary film, performance and personal narrative; it aired on public television stations across the country.
Before joining ABC, Martin covered state and local politics for the Washington Post and national politics and policy at the Wall Street Journal, where she was White House correspondent. She has also been a regular panelist on the PBS series Washington Week and a contributor to NOW with Bill Moyers.
Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Joan Barone Award for Excellence in Washington-based National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcasting from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association and a 2002 Silver Gavel Award, given by the American Bar Association. Along with her Emmy award, she received three additional Emmy nominations, including one with NPR's Robert Krulwich, at the time an ABC contributor as well, for an ABC News program examining children's racial attitudes.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1980 and has done graduate work at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
Photo: Stephen Voss
More from KCRW
Midweek Reset: The Art of the Imperfect
Mental HealthThis week Oliver Burkeman journalist and author of “Meditations for Mortals” discusses the complexities of trying to be perfect in an imperfect world.
5 Songs to Hear This Week: Tunde Adebimpe, Anna Lunoe, Sister Gemini
Best New MusicTV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe just dropped his first solo single and it is "Magnetic."
Dodgers’ World Series victory, artist Alice Neel’s work in queer world
NewsThe LA Dodgers are World Series champs! The Boys in Blue rallied from a five-run fifth inning deficit Wednesday night to beat the New York Yankees.
Japanese American internment camp site plays ball
SportsFor the first time since World War II, Japanese Americans gathered at the site of the former Manzanar internment camp to play baseball at a reconstructed field.
LA teens would rather live without social media, says new docuseries
Child developmentFilmmaker Lauren Greenfield assesses how constant internet access affects the coming-of-age experience of pandemic teens in a new series called “Social Studies.”
Today’s Top Tune: pablopablo – ‘Lejos de Más (Feat. Helado Negro)’
Best New MusicPablo Drexler (aka pablopablo ) is the son of Academy Award-winning/Grammy-darling songwriter and guitarist Jorge Drexler .
Today’s Top Tune: Sam Blasucci - ‘Flower’
Best New MusicMapache songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sam Blasucci swerves into his love of Motown as you’ll hear on the song “Flower.”
Weekend film reviews: ‘Here,’ ‘A Real Pain,’ ‘Blitz’
EntertainmentThe latest film releases include Here, A Real Pain, Blitz, and Emilia Perez.
FREAKS ONLY playlist: Oct 31, 2024
Best New MusicNew music. Emerging artists. No boundaries. Served fresh every weeknight, 8-10pm, only on FREAKS ONLY by Travis Holcombe.