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 Gem State recently played a big role in the creation of the USS Idaho, a submarine with advanced technology that is getting ready to join the Navy's fleet. -
A new documentary is uncovering the haunting legacy of more than 2,000 Northwest shipwrecks and their deep, complicated connections to Indigenous costal tribes like the Chinook Indian Nation. -
A new documentary is tracing how a secret 1953 reactor in Idaho's sagebrush desert sparked the birth of the U.S. nuclear navy. -
What's next for farmers in Idaho and how are they trying to protect their land for the future? -
A Caldwell farm is safeguarding its 35 acres for future generations, using sustainable practices to preserve farmland as Idaho's growth marches on. -
For most of us, we only get a few minutes with our physician at the doctor’s office. With so many patients and so few doctors, there is very little face-to-face time with the medical professionals who can have a profound impact on our bodies and our minds. -
The future of Idaho's farms, and the food they grow, is being shaped by today's growth and land use decisions. -
In Bannock County, a hungry herd of goats is taking on invasive cheatgrass, helping the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust restore native habitat for the region's wild residents. -
Every year, more than 400 birds crash headlong into the windows of East Junior High School, now though, thanks to a new project, those collisions have been cut down dramatically. -
Roughly 20% of Idaho voters went to the polls to decide local elections and ballots measures, including school funding, the foothills levy and key races in Boise and Caldwell.
