Jennifer Ludden
Jennifer Ludden helps edit energy and environment stories for NPR's National Desk, working with NPR staffers and a team of public radio reporters across the country. They track the shift to clean energy, state and federal policy moves, and how people and communities are coping with the mounting impacts of climate change.
Previously, Ludden was an NPR correspondent covering family life and social issues, including the changing economics of marriage, the changing role of dads, and the ethical challenges of reproductive technology. She's also covered immigration and national security.
Ludden started reporting with NPR while based overseas in West Africa, Europe and the Middle East. She shared in two awards (Overseas Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists) for NPR's coverage of the Kosovo war in 1999, and won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for her coverage of the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When not navigating war zones, Ludden reported on cultural trends, including the dying tradition of storytellers in Syria, the emergence of Persian pop music in Iran, and the rise of a new form of urban polygamy in Africa.
Ludden has also reported from Canada and at public radio stations in Boston and Maine. She's a graduate of Syracuse University with degrees in television, radio, and film production and in English.
-
The move would ease approval for major infrastructure projects. It could mean federal agencies won't need to consider climate impacts of things like pipelines and highways. -
A handful of states are refusing to name both parents from a same-sex couple on a birth certificate, even though its among the benefits named in the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.
-
State lawmakers passed dozens of bills to restrict abortion this session. One trend: making women wait ever longer, up to 72 hours in some states, before having the procedure.
-
The verdict in the Travyon Martin case is reverberating at the annual gathering of Delta Sigma Theta, a prominent service sorority that has long focused on African-American civil rights.
-
A year after Massachusetts ended lifetime alimony, groups in a number of states are pushing similar legislation. They say alimony laws are outdated, based on a time when most women didn't work. But family lawyers say the proposals would punish those who've sacrificed their own career to help a spouse advance.
-
A new industry of apps is helping parents stay one step ahead of their kids online, monitoring every post, photo and text they send or receive. Some argue this is necessary parental oversight in the modern digital age. Others say it sends the wrong message to kids and can backfire.
-
New census figures showing a link between single motherhood and poverty have some analysts touting marriage as a cure. But others say there are additional economic factors to consider.
