Rachel Faulkner White
Rachel Faulkner is a producer and editor for TED Radio Hour.
During her time at NPR, Faulkner has also helped create dozens of TED Radio Hour segments, including a long-form interview on navigating grief and hardship, a look at how family income affects childhood brain development, a conversation on loneliness and human connection and an exploration of outer space and gravitational waves. She also occasionally produces episodes of How I Built This, including fan favorites like The McBride Sisters, Rent The Runway, Bumble and filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
Faulkner is part of the TED Radio Hour team that received a 2018 Webby Award for their Manipulation episode. She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Steven V. Roberts, author of the memoir Cokie: A Life Well-Lived, about his wife (and one of NPR's Founding Mothers) Cokie Roberts.
Faulkner joined NPR in 2016 as an intern. She started producing while finishing college, coming into the office between classes, and joined NPR full-time after finishing her bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications from George Washington University.
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Anne Lamott has always been honest about the messiest parts of her life, from addiction to parenthood. Now, in her 20th book, she reflects on the beautiful—and complicated—realities of love.
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Twenty years ago, Gene Luen Yang taught high school and wrote comics on the side. Now, he's the author of American Born Chinese and other bestsellers. He says comic books belong in every classroom.
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Iranian artist Shirin Neshat is known for her images of women that pose probing questions about the female body within Islam and Iranian culture. This hour, she reflects on her life and work in exile.
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When it comes to North American cuisine, Indigenous foods don't typically come to mind. Chef Sean Sherman is changing that by serving food that celebrates and preserves his ancestors' Lakota cooking.
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MLK Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin are household names, but what about their mothers? This hour, author Anna Malaika Tubbs explores how these three women shaped American history.
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mRNA vaccines are groundbreaking—but the mRNA inside them is fragile. Kathryn Whitehead explains how scientists have created the right "packing material" to safely deliver these to the right cells.
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Cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar explains a case where deep grief caused takotsubo cardiomyopathy—also called "broken heart syndrome." He examines the connection emotions have with our most vital organ.
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Jason Reynolds is an award-winning author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. This hour, Jason speaks with Manoush about reaching kids through stories that let them feel understood.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But it's also shaped by global norms. This hour, journalist Elise Hu reflects on what's considered beautiful now, and how we'll think about beauty in the future.
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Cone snails are deadly sea predators; their venom can kill fish and even humans. But chemical biologist Mandë Holford says that powerful venom can actually be used for good — to treat human diseases.