WUFT “Morning Edition” host Glenn Richards recently spoke with Leila Fadel, one of the hosts of NPR’s “Morning Edition” and the network’s morning news podcast “Up First.”
Before taking the anchor chair, Fadel was an award-winning national correspondent who reported on policing, race and inequities in the health care system. One of her stories looked at how those inequities were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As an international correspondent, she was based in Cairo and covered the wave of revolts in the Middle East and their aftermath in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and beyond. In 2014, she reported on Libya’s struggle to build an army after the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Richards and Fadel discussed the mission of public radio and the importance of continued listener support after Congress clawed back two years of previously approved funding. They also talked about how Fadel’s Lebanese American background informs her reporting — and whether she prefers kibbeh or rolled grape leaves.
“Morning Edition” airs weekdays from 5 to 10 a.m. on WUFT. Weekend edition airs at 8 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. “Up First” is available to stream at 6:30 a.m. weekdays wherever podcasts are found, and at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays, “The Sunday Story” replaces “Up First” at 8 a.m. with longer episodes that dive deeper into the week’s top headlines.
