
Rob Schmitz
Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Berlin, where he covers the human stories of a vast region reckoning with its past while it tries to guide the world toward a brighter future. From his base in the heart of Europe, Schmitz has covered Germany's levelheaded management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of right-wing nationalist politics in Poland and creeping Chinese government influence inside the Czech Republic.
Prior to covering Europe, Schmitz provided award-winning coverage of China for a decade, reporting on the country's economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China's impact beyond its borders took him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Inside China, he's interviewed elderly revolutionaries, young rappers, and live-streaming celebrity farmers who make up the diverse tapestry of one of the most fascinating countries on the planet. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road (Crown/Random House 2016), a profile of individuals who live, work, and dream along a single street that runs through the heart of China's largest city. The book won several awards and has been translated into half a dozen languages. In 2018, China's government banned the Chinese version of the book after its fifth printing. The following year it was selected as a finalist for the Ryszard Kapuściński Award, Poland's most prestigious literary prize.
Schmitz has won numerous awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award. His work was also a finalist for the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. His reporting in Japan — from the hardest-hit areas near the failing Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami — was included in the publication 100 Great Stories, celebrating the centennial of Columbia University's Journalism School. In 2012, Schmitz exposed the fabrications in Mike Daisey's account of Apple's supply chain on This American Life. His report was featured in the show's "Retraction" episode. In 2011, New York's Rubin Museum of Art screened a documentary Schmitz shot in Tibetan regions of China about one of the last living Tibetans who had memorized "Gesar of Ling," an epic poem that tells of Tibet's ancient past.
From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for American Public Media's Marketplace. He's also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He also lived in Spain for two years. He speaks Mandarin and Spanish. He has a bachelor's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
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This summer, one can travel in Germany on public transportation for less than $10 a month. It's part of a government package to tackle the soaring cost of living by using more public transportation.
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Leaders of the seven wealthiest democracies began three days of talks Sunday in Germany's Bavarian Alps — as Russia fired a barrage of missiles at the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
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President Biden will be in Europe for a G-7 meeting in Germany, before he heads to a NATO summit. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Berlin on Friday to join a UN conference on food security.
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European Union leaders will meet Thursday in Brussels where they are expected to approve Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU — a process that is neither quick nor easy.
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Lithuania has warned its neighbors for years about the dangers posed by Russia. The country is once again calling for the international community to do more to stop Russia.
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The European Union embargo covers only Russian oil brought in by sea — allowing a temporary exemption for imports delivered by pipeline.
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As Russia's war in Ukraine enters its fourth month, European countries are scrambling to wean themselves off of Russian gas. The Baltic nation of Lithuania has become the first to do so.
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The announcement was widely expected and has broad support in the country: A recent poll showed that about three-quarters of all Finns support joining the military alliance.
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As the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, here's a look at abortion rights and access around the world.
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The European Union says it intends to phase out Russian oil in the next few months. This was part of a package of new sanctions the EU announced Wednesday against Russia for its war in Ukraine.