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I was born in New York City and raised outside of Detroit. I graduated from Michigan State University in 2007 with an Honor's Degree in Broadcast Journalism and then took a reporting job in southern Illinois. I worked there for about five months before taking over as the News and Sports Director at two stations in central Minnesota. After two-and-a-half years in the frigid cold, I accepted the position at WBAA in June of 2010. I have really enjoyed my time working in the West Lafayette area. I love being out in the community covering a wide range of events from school board and city council meetings to elections and football and basketball games.

Kurt began his radio career at 16 as weekend disc jockey at KOLS-AM/KKMA-FM (now KMYZ) in Pryor, Okla. He gradually began doing news work at his home town radio station. Kurt studied journalism at Oklahoma State University, serving two terms as managing editor of "The Daily O'Collegian." He returned to his radio roots while at Oklahoma State, working first as a part-time news producer, then as Morning Edition host at KOSU. Kurt left the station in 1990 returning to Pryor to be a part of a new business, ViaGrafix, that developed computer training videos. He eventually sold his business to attend seminary at The Iliff School of Theology in Denver and Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla. He served as minister of communications for St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City for five years before starting his own media business, Discuss Communications LLC.

Ben Philpott covers politics and policy for KUT 90.5 FM. He has been covering state politics and dozens of other topics for the station since 2002. He's been recognized for outstanding radio journalism by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated, the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters and twice by the Houston Press Club as Radio Journalist of the Year. Before moving to Texas, he worked in public radio in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Ala., and at several television stations in Alabama and Tennessee. Born in New York City and raised in Chattanooga, Tenn., Philpott graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in broadcast journalism.

A veteran Vermont reporter, John joined VPR in 2001. Previously, John was a staff writer for the Sunday Times Argus and the Sunday Rutland Herald, responsible for breaking stories and in-depth features on local issues. He has also served as Communications Director for the Vermont Health Care Authority and Bureau Chief for UPI in Montpelier. John was honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards in 2007 for his reporting on VPR. He was the lead reporter for a VPR series on climate change that in 2008 won a national Edward R. Murrow award for continuing coverage. In 2009, John's coverage of an asbestos mine in northern Vermont was recognized with a regional investigative reporting award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.

Kat Chow is a reporter with NPR and a founding member of the Code Switch team. She is currently on sabbatical, working on her first book (forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing/Hachette). It's a memoir that digs into the questions about grief, race and identity that her mother's sudden death triggered when Kat was young.

Sami Yenigun is the Executive Producer of NPR's All Things Considered and the Consider This podcast. Yenigun works with hosts, editors, and producers to plan and execute the editorial vision of NPR's flagship afternoon newsmagazine and evening podcast. He comes to this role after serving as a Supervising Editor on All Things Considered, where he helped launch Consider This and oversaw the growth of the newsmagazine on new platforms.

The main thing you should know about Giles Snyder is that he is an extreme commuter. He drives 90 miles from his home to the NPR newsroom, usually in the middle of the night.

Joe Panarello (Dr. D), has been "Playing The Sounds That Make Your Heart Pound With The Beat That Moves Your Feet" for over three decades. Starting out on a small AM station in the 70's near Harrisburg PA. while in college, Joe went on to non-commercial powerhouse station WBAI FM in NYC, doing an afternoon show and engineering for specialty shows.

Mat Kaplan knows how fortunate he is to be the host and producer of Planetary Radio. He was just 17 when he got his first job in broadcasting, yet it wasn't until the premiere of the Society's weekly broadcast and podcast series, that he was able to combine his love of space exploration with the fun and excitement of being on the air.