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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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says he won't cooperate with an International Criminal Court probe into his country's war on drugs, which could put Marcos in a difficult spot politically.
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The Korean pop group BTS is on a bit of a break right now, but their fans are not. Especially one group of fans in the Philippines — all of them of a certain age.
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Every year millions of Filipinos leave their homeland to work overseas, sending billions of dollars back home. The death of a female overseas Filipino worker has shaken the country to its core.
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The Department of Defense announced the move that is widely seen as a way to deter China's influence in the region amid a visit to the Philippines by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. -
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced she's leaving office in the coming weeks. The announcement Thursday shocked analysts and has left her party in a bind.
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NATO foreign ministers are now meeting in Romania to discuss how to support Ukrainians as they confront a harsh winter and a constant barrage of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure.
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A new school in Kyiv aims to get more women involved in the war effort by putting them in a driver's seat where few have been before: piloting drones.
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Dozens of American parents who were in the process of adopting children from Ukraine are stuck in limbo as the war with Russia grinds on with no end in sight.
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The rural town of Balaklia was liberated as part of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive against Russia in the east. NPR was among the first group of journalists to go there.
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The Ukrainian town of Balaklia was the first to be liberated as part of Ukraine's recent counteroffensive. The work to understand what happened there during six months of occupation is just beginning.
