Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Barbara Bradley Hagerty is the religion correspondent for NPR, reporting on the intersection of faith and politics, law, science and culture. Her New York Times best-selling book, "Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality," was published by Riverhead/Penguin Group in May 2009. Among others, Barb has received the American Women in Radio and Television Award, the Headliners Award and the Religion Newswriters Association Award for radio reporting.
Before covering the religion beat, Barb was NPR's Justice Department correspondent between 1998 and 2003. Her billet included the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, Florida's disputed 2000 election, terrorism, crime, espionage, wrongful convictions and the occasional serial killer. Barbara was the lead correspondent covering the investigation into the September 11 attacks. Her reporting was part of NPR's coverage that earned the network the 2001 George Foster Peabody and Overseas Press Club awards. She has appeared on the PBS programs Washington Week and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Barb came to NPR in 1995, after attending Yale Law School on a one-year Knight Fellowship. From 1982-1993, she worked at The Christian Science Monitor as a newspaper reporter in Washington, as the Asia correspondent based in Tokyo for World Monitor (the Monitor's nightly television program on the Discovery Cable Channel) and finally as senior Washington correspondent for Monitor Radio.
Barb was graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in 1981 with a degree in economics, and has a masters in legal studies from Yale Law School.
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The views of vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan are strikingly different, but both espouse the same Catholic faith and are reaching out to Christian voters. Their views, which represent opposite wings of their religion, are a reflection of the growing divide among Catholics.
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Texas evangelist David Barton is not a historian, but his Christian-nation view of American history is wildly popular with conservative churches, universities and the GOP. His supporters call him a hero; his detractors say he's a danger. -
This year, the Olympics fall during the Muslim holy month, and some athletes have to make a choice: be in top physical condition, or maintain a primary tenet of their faith. Fasting for Ramadan can be a physical and mental challenge, but it poses a particular dilemma for Muslims competing in London. -
The Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Bishops are pushing back against what they perceive as threats to the Catholic Church's core beliefs. While some Catholics are uncomfortable with the changes under way, others say they are overdue. -
Conservatives like Republican Rep. Paul Ryan are using religious arguments as they push for cuts to taxes and to services for the poor. That's prompting liberals to push back, saying it goes against Jesus' command to care for the poor.
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The Defense Of Marriage Act prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages — and that means Social Security benefits don't pass on to surviving partners. A lawsuit seeks the same benefits given to heterosexual married couples. -
The former House speaker, who cheated on his first two wives and was fined by Congress for ethical violations, is outperforming family man Mitt Romney among evangelical Republicans in key states. Says one influential Iowa conservative: "The centerpiece of our faith is forgiveness." -
The King James translation, first published 400 years ago, is celebrating a birthday of biblical proportions. It's no longer the top-selling Bible, but in those four centuries, it has woven itself deeply into our speech and culture. -
Brian McLaren, an influential evangelical leader, suggests in a new book that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. Traditional evangelicals fiercely object to his ideas. But McLaren is tapping into a generational divide between young evangelicals and their parents.
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Scholar Philip Jenkins argues that scriptures in the Quran are less brutal than those in the Bible. In his forthcoming book, Dark Passages, Jenkins points out that violence in the Quran is mostly defensive, but in the Bible, it is often a method of genocide.
