Gregory Warner
Gregory Warner is the host of NPR's Rough Translation, a podcast about how things we're talking about in the United States are being talked about in some other part of the world. Whether interviewing a Ukrainian debunker of Russian fake news, a Japanese apology broker navigating different cultural meanings of the word "sorry," or a German dating coach helping a Syrian refugee find love, Warner's storytelling approach takes us out of our echo chambers and leads us to question the way we talk about the world. Rough Translation has received the Lowell Thomas Award from the Overseas Press Club and a Scripps Howard Award.
In his role as host, Warner draws on his own overseas experience. As NPR's East Africa correspondent, he covered the diverse issues and voices of a region that experienced unparalleled economic growth as well as a rising threat of global terrorism. Before joining NPR, he reported from conflict zones around the world as a freelancer. He climbed mountains with smugglers in Pakistan for This American Life, descended into illegal mineshafts in the Democratic Republic of Congo for Marketplace's "Working" series, and lugged his accordion across Afghanistan on the trail of the "Afghan Elvis" for Radiolab.
Warner has also worked as senior reporter for American Public Media's Marketplace, endeavoring to explain the economics of American health care. He's used puppets to illustrate the effects of Internet diagnostics on the doctor-patient relationship, and composed a Suessian poem to explain the correlation between health care job growth and national debt. His musical journey into the shadow world of medical coding won a Best News Feature award from the Third Coast International Audio Festival.
Warner has won a Peabody Award and awards from Edward R. Murrow, New York Festivals, AP, and PRNDI. He earned his degree in English from Yale University.
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Amid fighting between government soldiers and rebels in an oil-rich part of the country, President Salva Kiir appealed for peace at a Christmas celebration in a church in the country's capital. The past week of violence has left thousands dead and tens of thousands displaced. -
Violence continues in the young country of South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011. An estimated 1,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands uprooted. On Tuesday, the United Nations voted to send thousands more peacekeepers there.
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The South Sudanese government says its army has retaken the city of Bor, which has been in rebel hands for more than a week. Juba the capital is quiet. But even as the military stage of the conflict seems to be slowly drawing to a close, the United Nations reports finding mass graves around the country. And 45,000 South Sudanese have taken shelter in makeshift camps inside U.N. compounds for protection.
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The United States is trying to broker a political solution between the combatants in South Sudan where violence threatens to explode into civil war. The fighting is between forces loyal to President Salva Kir and those who follow Kir's former deputy, Riak Machar.
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The United Nations' chief is calling for additional peacekeepers for South Sudan where fighting between forces loyal to the president and those loyal to his former deputy is spiraling.
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Human rights groups and Western governments have criticized the bill since it was first introduced in 2009. Uganda's president must still sign the measure, which has widespread support. -
On Thursday, President Obama warned the country is "on the precipice." Forces opposed to the nation's president have taken control of a major town, and killed at least three U.N. peacekeepers in the process.
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When a Kenyan woman was diagnosed with HIV, she thought it meant the end of her marriage and her hopes to have children. But with the help of HIV therapy, Benta Odeny not only protects her husband from the virus, but she also has a healthy, HIV-negative daughter. -
Some African leaders transformed their home villages into monuments glorifying themselves. Nelson Mandela rejected such extravagance and will be buried Sunday in a tiny farming village that's barely changed since he ran across its green rolling hills nearly a century ago. -
Thousands gathered to remember and celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela Tuesday despite a downpour of rain. As one attendee said, "Mandela endured 27 years in prison. I can suffer through a day of rain."
