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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In a time filled with noise, politics and debate Idaho Listens is creating space for something that is often not done enough, listening. -
Climate change is impacting our health in ways that cannot be ignored, which is why physicians are coming together to put a face and voice to the growing crisis. -
Six birds of prey are taking flight this fall, giving visitors a chance to see raptors soar overhead while learning about their remarkable world. -
A Boise State scientist is uncovering how an inflammatory protein may be helping cancer spread to the lymph nodes, lungs and bones and whether blocking it could help stop cancer. -
NASA's Europa Clipper is on a 1.8 billion mile journey to explore an icy ocean that could hold the secrets of life beyond earth. -
A deadly flood in Nepal offers a chilling reminder of what can happen when heavy rain hists a wildfire-scarred landscape, which Idaho has also seen on a smaller-scale. -
Could a new heat safety program in New Mexico help other cities struggle to help their most vulnerable citizens? -
The Planetary Society is trying to save the Earth from another catastrophic asteroid impact. -
Our Space Robots series takes a look at a new telescope that will search for alien worlds. -
One legislative candidate weighs in on the lack of a coordinated rat elimination plan in Idaho.
