Alex Cohen
Alex Cohen is the reporter for NPR's fastest-growing daily news program, Day to Day where she has covered everything from homicides in New Orleans to the controversies swirling around the frosty dessert known as Pinkberry.
Though based at NPR West in California, she's traveled to Des Moines to cover the first-in-the-nation caucus in 2008; to Paris (Texas, that is) to report on a devastating drought and to the far corners of the Navajo Nation to profile a politician forced to choose between his tribe and the New Mexico Senate.
Cohen also fills in as the host of Day to Day. With her colleagues Alex Chadwick and Madeleine Brand, she has anchored live breaking news coverage of Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the Minneapolis bridge collapse. She's interviewed Nobel Laureates, members of Congress, Grammy-winner Lucinda Williams and some people you may not have heard of, like the inventor of scratch-n-sniff wallpaper and David Depto (U.S. champion of the new intellectual and brutal sport of chess boxing.)
There is little Cohen won't do for Day to Day listeners. She's braved the the war zone of the "All You Can Eat" seats at Dodger Stadium. She played countless hours of Guitar Hero II to get audio from the game's last level — Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird." And she grooved to the Beach Boys while drinking several varieties of Chardonnay to test a theory about the effect of music on wine. (It was worth it: The piece wound up being one of NPR's Most E-mailed Stories.)
Cohen started her career at NPR as an intern with Weekend Edition Sunday, where she also launched the first-ever "Intern Edition." Since then, she has worked just about every angle radio has to offer. She's been a bureau chief, show host, newscast anchor, director, producer and editor at member station KQED, at NPR and for the American Public Media programs Marketplace and Weekend America.
She graduated from Brown University where she studied Eastern Religions and went on to get her Masters of Journalism at the University of Berkeley at California. Cohen has won awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
She lives in the LA neighborhood of Atwater Village with her husband Rich and their two dogs Buddy and Bosco. When not making radio, Alex plays banked track roller derby under the nom de guerre Axles of Evil.
-
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama will be giving his big speech on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous I Have a Dream speech, meaning the stakes are extremely high. We visit with a local debate team in Denver to see what they are looking for.
-
Performance artist Hillary Carlip collects discarded shopping lists. She imagines their authors, transforms herself into them, and goes shopping. In one case, she even created an online dating profile for her character.
-
Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch became a YouTube sensation when one of his lectures was posted online. A published version of that lecture became a best-selling book. Pausch died Thursday night after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
-
Steve Cirinna, Lee County Emergency Management coordinator, discusses how his Iowa county is preparing for a flood surge. Cirinna also warns that with fertilizer and propane in the flood water, it can be a long-term health risk.
-
Before Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was killed, only incumbent presidential candidates were given Secret Service protection. Over the years the agency has developed criteria for which White House hopefuls receive security services.
-
The indie movie princess and folk indie prince have joined forces under a simple moniker. Their debut album, which feels like it came from another era, has already landed the duo on multiple critics' Best of 2008 lists.
-
The award-winning writer shares tips on selecting foods for a healthy planet and body. Sticking to the fringes of the supermarket is one of his distinctive recommendations. -
A restaurant firm is helping museums, schools and corporations reduce their carbon footprints through its lunch menu. With Bing cherries replacing pepperoni, will employees stick to the low-carb diet?
-
Bear Stearns traders and dealers have seen the value of their stock share plummet and their futures put in jeopardy. Marketplace's Janet Babin explains that Bear Stearns employees may try to find new jobs, but with a recession looming, it's not going to be easy to find work.
-
J.P. Morgan bought its collapsing rival Bear Stearns after the Federal Reserve intervened. The Fed took several unusual moves, including approving the purchase over the weekend instead of waiting until a March 18 scheduled meeting.
