From Backseat Listener to NPR Host: A Conversation with Ari Shapiro | WUWM 89.7 FM

Ari Shapiro was one of the anchors of NPR's flagship afternoon newsmagazine All in all since 2015. Prior to that, he also held NPR's Justice, White House and International Correspondent reporting titles throughout his career. Outside of his award-winning on-air work, Shapiro also wrote a memoir: The best strangers in the world, and performs a cabaret with Tony Award winner Alan Cumming.

Clearly, Shapiro likes to stay busy. So when he's not hosting, he's reporting on the ground, which recently took him to Milwaukee to highlight Wisconsinites as part of NPR ahead of the presidential election We, the voters Project.

“I love the Great Lakes region,” Shapiro says. “I've taken many reporting trips to Ohio and Michigan over the years, but I haven't spent that much time in Wisconsin. I've been to the state a few times but haven't done that much. “I'm reporting here and I'm really looking forward to diving deep and spending a week getting to know people.”

Be one of four All in all As a host, Shapiro enjoys the mixed schedule that allows him to be involved in different types of projects. “I’ll be hosting the radio show for two weeks, I’ll be hosting a podcast Consider this for a week, and I'll have a deployment week one week a month, and that's exactly what it is for me,” he explains.

Long before his NPR career, Shapiro grew up as a “background listener.” “I always joked that All in all The theme music gave me a Pavlovian reaction because my mother always cooked dinner All in all came, so I related the ATC theme to food,” he recalls jokingly.

“I’ve always loved the storytelling aspect, I love pursuing my curiosity,” adds Shapiro. “I love waking up every day knowing that I will learn something throughout the day that I didn't know; that I can ask people who are doing the most important work in their field, no matter what field that is.” Maybe they're questions that are completely simple and ignorant, and I just learn what they know, and that's a side effect my job. I'm just very happy to be able to do this.

Shapiro's first job at NPR was an internship with NPR legal correspondent Nina Totenberg after college. Not only did he learn simply by watching Totenberg as he explored the people and places of Washington, D.C., but Shapiro also greatly appreciated spending time with one of the central figures leaving their own footprint on the hard news at NPR had.

“(They) found a home for the kind of hard news reporting they wanted to do when the major networks weren't hiring women to do hard news,” he notes. “So I look up to these people because they shaped journalism to make room for itself, in a way that I and others who came after me have continued to do. And journalism is not static – journalism is evolving and we can help shape it through our work.”

Of all the topics Shapiro has covered, one has been particularly popular since its inception: food.

“Here's the thing about food, no matter where you are in history, where you are in the world, where you are on the spectrum of wealth, class, any variable doesn't matter – food is there,” he explains. “So by looking at the world through the lens of food, you can tell stories about things that might feel distant and disjointed, but that become more accessible because everyone can relate to, enjoy and share food.”

In addition to being a reporter and anchor at NPR, Shapiro also hosts the Netflix reality TV show The moleand sings with Pink Martini in the studio and on tour. While he enjoys working in radio, Shapiro says it's important to keep up with other fun and exciting activities outside of the news world.

“(My outdoor performances are all about listening, telling stories and connecting with an audience, yes.) But beyond that, these are things that I really enjoy and hopefully come across,” says he.