Samantha Wright
Idaho Matters Senior ProducerExpertise: Reporting, producing, writing, editing, hosting, interviewing, board operating
Education: Boise State University + interviewing every expert and reading every book I can find to constantly keep learning
Highlights
- I got to chase Martian Dust Devils in the Oregon desert
- I wisely skipped breakfast the day I flew in a Red Baron Squadron Stearman stunt biplane
- My tombstone will probably read “Brought the Parachuting Beavers story to Idaho”
- I rode in the belly of an M1 Abrams Tank across the Idaho desert
Experience
As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio. I am so grateful to have been honored by my peers with Edward R. Murrow Awards for my stories including wheelchair rugby, blind bird watching, making pies for Lent, learning to can food during a recession, and walking through a living nativity.
I love playing with audio and had great fun putting together my Canning Makes a Comeback story which won Best Use of Sound from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA). I love interviewing fascinating people from Idaho musician Rosalie Sorrels to best-selling author Sharon Kay Penman. I also sat down with three of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders and several of the surviving Tuskegee Airmen. I hosted “Folk Trails” on KBSU for several years and got paid to play celtic, bluegrass and folk music while chatting with everyone from “Artis the Spoonman” to singer Christine Lavin.
I’ve followed guide dog trainers for Voice of America, reported on how road noise affects Boise’s Foothills for New Yorker Magazine, gathered sound for This American Life, trekked to Stanley, Idaho for NPR for the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, and reported for the New York Times and National Native News. I loved producing stories for the Idaho Storycorps Project each time it came to Boise and had great fun hosting the Legislative Breakdown podcast for several sessions of the Idaho Legislature.
My goal is to find out what’s on the mind of our listeners and to Never Be Boring!
Email: If you have a suggestion for an Idaho Matters segment, please email idahomatters@boisestate.edu.
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The Geminid meteor shower is set to light up the sky this weekend with up to 120 dazzling meteors per hour. -
The Centers for Disease Control is changing its recommendations for when to give babies the hepatitis B vaccine and the World Health Organization has weighed in on GLP-1 weight loss drugs. -
Celebrating two decades of his holiday benefit concerts, Curtis Stigers teamed up with Jodi Peterson-Stigers to reveal big changes ahead for Interfaith Sanctuary. -
The new Gem State Housing Alliance is uniting Idaho leaders and developers to address the state's housing affordability crisis and boost homebuilding in 2026. -
It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week. -
Idaho Public Television's latest documentary reveals how a local sculptor has immortalized Challenger astronaut Christa McAuliffe in bronze. -
This weekend, Idaho IceWorld is turning into a holiday stage for "Jingle Blades," the Boise Figure Skating Club's festive showcase! -
Boise's art scene is serving up some Christmas cheer with three festive productions that journey from a WWI truce to the Nutcracker to a bold, burlesque-inspired reimagining of the tale. -
How is money, especially Dark Money, affecting Idaho politics? -
AAA Idaho says holiday travel is surging again this Thanksgiving, with hundreds of thousands of Idahoans expected on the roads amid rising reports of driver frustration and road rage.
