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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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. -
Transracial and transnational adoptees say it's been difficult to express their thoughts about race and social justice provoked by police killings, anti-Asian violence and immigration. -
There is a glaring irony of the pandemic: Countries like the island nation of Tonga that have managed to keep the virus at bay may be some of the last to recover from the economic impact. -
Their workload has doubled. They don't go home when their shifts end lest they infect family members. But they say it's worth the sacrifices to lend a hand in the fight against COVID-19. -
The Philippines is going "brand agnostic" after a vaccination site was swarmed this week when people found out Pfizer doses were to be given out. -
Families and friends met in airports for the first time in over a year after Australia and New Zealand opened a "bubble" of quarantine-free travel between their countries. -
Palau has seen no COVID-19 cases and Taiwan has kept the virus in check. Taiwan's first tourist flight to Palau during the pandemic era landed Thursday. Travelers do not need to quarantine on arrival. -
Many Asian adoptees say they feel left out of the national conversation about anti-Asian racism because they don't feel like they belong in either the Asian American community or white America. -
After nearly half the Pacific island territory's population voted in favor of independence from France in a referendum in October, a new government is made up mostly of pro-independence politicians. -
The 168 school desks make up an exhibit called "Pandemic Classroom." Each of the seats represents 1 million children living in countries where schools have been closed for almost a year.
