Samantha Balaban
Samantha Balaban is 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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Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury revisit their classic story of a family going on a bear hunt (encountering many obstacles along the way) — and preview their new one, Oh Dear, Look What I Got! -
A storm is coming and two siblings pull on their boots and head to the sea. The waves crash and the rain starts to fall, but they go on in this quintessential summer adventure story. -
Papilio is a picture book told in three parts about three stages of a butterfly's life (there are really four stages but egg time is pretty boring). It's also written and illustrated by three friends. -
On Winged Victory, songwriter Willi Carlisle weaves between the absurd and the sentimental. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Carlisle about the 11 tracks of originals and covers. -
Reporter Kevin Sack's new book is a history of Charleston's Emanuel AME Church, the oldest Black congregation in the South, where a white supremacist killed nine worshippers a decade ago. -
What do you get if you add poems that are "Shel Silverstein meets Rumi for kids" with pictures of yetis and primordial slime? Words with Wings and Magic Things, a book of illustrated poems for kids. -
Author Travis Jonker and illustrator Matthew Cordell talk about the real model ship that inspired their picture book about a man, his son, a mouse, and the voyage that brings them together. -
Ernesto's mom gives him a quarter every morning. "For emergencies," she says. "If you need me, look for a pay phone." Hey, it was the '90s! But how will Ernesto spend his Emergency Quarters? -
Detroit's population is growing, a first since the 1950s. The uptick is small but significant for a city that's struggled for decades.
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Did you know on average a sloth will fall out of a tree once a week for its entire life? It's true — and the inspiration for Brian Cronin and Doreen Cronin's new children's book, Mama in the Moon.
