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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Kotek won her state's Democratic primary on Tuesday. If she wins the general election later this year, she will become the country's first openly lesbian governor. -
The president visited the supermarket where last weekend's deadly shooting took place, then forcefully denounced white supremacy and the racist "Replacement" theory that inspired the shooter.
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South America and much of the continental United States had the best view of Sunday night's lunar eclipse, which lasted nearly five hours.
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Human rights advocates have decried the accusations as "baseless" and say the trial is meant to sideline political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for more than 30 years.
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The move is meant to speed up the recovery of the island nation's pandemic-battered economy, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday.
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With permanent burial too costly for many, a priest launched a project to exhume victims, cremate them and find a lasting resting place for their ashes — all free of charge to the families.
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Boracay Island, the most popular beach in the Philippines, is making a comeback after nearly two years of pandemic restrictions. It comes as the Philippines finally reopens its borders to tourism.
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The Philippines is losing restrictions on travel to the country. The change would affect tourists from 150 countries, including the U.S. where the largest diaspora of Filipinos live.
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It's a pandemic predicament. With only 1 recorded case of COVID-19 in their island nation, Tongans are desperate for help after the volcanic eruption — but eager to keep the virus out.
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In the Philippine capital Manila, people without proof of full vaccination or a work exemption can't take public transportation. Human rights activists say the policy discriminates against the poor.
