Liz Baker
Liz Baker is a producer on NPR's National Desk based in Los Angeles, and is often on the road producing coverage of domestic breaking news stories.
Since joining NPR as an Arts Desk intern in 2010, Baker has worked on each of NPR's newsmagazine programs and dozens of hours of special coverage, including every election night and inauguration special since President Obama's second term. She has covered natural and man-made disasters, including Hurricanes Maria, Ida, and Ian, the catastrophic 2019-2020 wildfire seasons in California, Oregon, and Australia, and the Surfside condo collapse in Florida. She also covered mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, TX, and Monterey Park, CA, and high-profile court cases such as the hate crime and murder trial against Ahmaud Arbery's killers in Brunswick, GA, Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault trial in Los Angeles, and Britney Spears' conservatorship hearing.
In 2020, Baker produced on-the-ground coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the summer of racial justice protests following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. She reported extensively on the protests in her hometown of Rochester, NY, which were sparked by police body camera video of Daniel Prude's death and contributed to renewed conversations about policing reform and mental illness.
From 2015 to 2019, Baker produced and directed Weekend All Things Considered; working closely with host Michel Martin to revitalize the program after its move to Washington, D.C. following a 2-year run in Los Angeles.
In her spare time, she enjoys climbing, camping, and clomping around the Santa Monica mountains with a too-heavy pack, always ready to lend first aid and snacks to others on the trail.
-
Min Kym had found her perfect partner in a 1696 Stradivarius — until it was snatched in a London cafe. She comes to terms with the loss in her new memoir, Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung. -
The band that backed Prince during the Purple Rain era is on tour celebrating his music. Members Wendy Melvoin, Bobby Z. and Doctor Fink say it helps them — and audiences — to process their grief. -
"The Science Guy" dons his lab coat and bow tie uniform yet again, this time, in a a new political context. In his new Netflix series, Nye tackles climate change deniers and beyond.
-
In 1985 the city of Thornton, Colo. bought up nearby farmland and water rights from its farms. Now, some of those farms are drying up. -
It was a simple idea: Would you, our listeners, tweet us poems for National Poetry Month? Your response contained multitudes — haiku, lyrics, even one 8-year-old's ode to her dad's bald spot. -
The Democratic debate Saturday night was held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Producer Liz Baker talked to students on campus about their involvement in politics and shares her observations.
-
Fiddler Mark O'Connor claims Shinichi Suzuki, creator of the popular Suzuki Method of violin instruction, was a fraud. O'Connor has created his own teaching system.
