David Greene

David Greene is NPR's Morning Programming Host/Correspondent. In this role he is the primary substitute host for Morning Edition as well as Weekend Edition Saturday and Sunday. When he is not hosting he brings his deep reporting talents to these programs.

For two years prior to taking on his current role in 2012, Greene was an NPR foreign correspondent based in Moscow covering the region from Ukraine and the Baltics, east to Siberia. During that time he brought listeners stories as wide ranging as Chernobyl 25 years later and Beatles-singing Russian Babushkas. He spent a month in Libya reporting riveting stories in the most difficult of circumstances as NATO bombs fell on Tripoli. He was honored with the 2011 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize from WBUR and Boston University for that coverage of the Arab Spring.

Greene's voice became familiar to NPR listeners from his four years covering the White House. To report on former President George W. Bush's second term, Greene spent hours in NPR's spacious booth in the basement of the West Wing (it's about the size of your average broom closet). He also spent time trekking across five continents, reporting on White House visits to places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Rwanda, Uruguay – and, of course, Crawford, Texas.

During the days following Hurricane Katrina, Greene was aboard Air Force One when President Bush flew low over the Gulf Coast and caught his first glimpse of the storm's destruction. On the ground in New Orleans, Greene brought listeners a moving interview with the late Ethel Williams, a then-74-year-old flood victim who got an unexpected visit from the president.

Greene was an integral part of NPR's coverage of the historic 2008 election, covering Hillary Clinton's campaign from start to finish, and also focusing on how racial attitudes were playing into voters' decisions. The White House Correspondents Association took special note of Greene's report on a speech by then-candidate Barack Obama, addressing the nation's racial divide. Greene was given the association's 2008 Merriman Smith award for deadline coverage of the presidency.

After President Obama took office, Greene kept one eye trained on the White House and the other eye on the road. He spent three months driving across America – with a recorder, camera and lots of caffeine – to learn how the recession was touching Americans during President Obama's first 100 days in office. The series was called "100 Days: On the Road in Troubled Times."

Before joining NPR in 2005, Greene spent nearly seven years as a newspaper reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He covered the White House during the Bush administration's first term, and wrote about an array of other topics for the paper: Why Oklahomans love the sport of cockfighting, why two Amish men in Pennsylvania were caught trafficking methamphetamine and how one woman brought Christmas back to a small town in Maryland.

Before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in 1998 with a degree in government, Greene worked as the senior editor on the Harvard Crimson. In 2004, he was named co-volunteer of the year for Coaching for College, a Washington, D.C., program offering tutoring to inner-city youth.

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NPR Story
2:43 am
Mon December 31, 2012

Secretary Clinton Hospitalized With Blood Clot

Originally published on Mon December 31, 2012 3:51 am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in a New York hospital for treatment of a blood clot. Clinton suffered a concussion after a fall earlier this month.

Games & Humor
3:07 am
Wed December 26, 2012

Google Integrates Kevin Bacon In its Search Function

Originally published on Wed December 26, 2012 3:41 am

Google has incorporated the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game into its search function. Morning Edition's David Greene goes to the movies and traces the history of the iconic college game. (This piece initially aired on September 14, 2012 on Morning Edition).

Analysis
3:25 am
Mon December 24, 2012

Politics In The News

Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 4:27 am

On Friday, members of Congress went home without settling their differences over how to avoid the spending decreases and tax increases known as the "fiscal cliff."

Politics
8:16 am
Fri December 21, 2012

Sen. Kerry Gets Obama's Nod For Secretary Of State

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene.

This afternoon, President Obama is set to nominate Massachusetts Senator John Kerry as the nation's next secretary of state. Kerry would replace Hillary Clinton, who's planning to leave that post after four years as the president's globe-trotting emissary. Joining us to talk about the move is NPR White House correspondent Scott Horsley and NPR's diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen, who's here in the studio with me.

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Politics
7:48 am
Fri December 21, 2012

Boehner Answers Questions About Withdrawing 'Plan B'

Originally published on Fri December 21, 2012 8:16 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. Action last night in the U.S. House of Representatives suggests just how hard it could be to pass a solution to the tax increases and spending cuts due at the end of the year.

INSKEEP: House Speaker John Boehner has yet to reach a deal with President Obama so he sought to put his own plan before the House last night.

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Politics
1:56 am
Fri December 21, 2012

Obama Focuses On Newtown, 'Fiscal Cliff'

Originally published on Fri December 21, 2012 8:16 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. Good morning. Action last night in the House of Representatives suggests just how hard it could be to pass a solution to the tax increases and spending cuts due at the end of the year.

INSKEEP: House Speaker John Boehner has yet to reach a deal with President Obama, so he sought to put his own plan before the House last night.

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NPR Story
2:17 am
Mon December 17, 2012

Why Tragedies Alter Risk Perception

Originally published on Mon December 17, 2012 2:44 am

If Friday's school shooting in Connecticut follows the pattern set by other mass tragedies, huge numbers of Americans are worrying about the safety of their kids at school. How is our perception of risk is shaped by tragedy, and what happens when our perceptions do not line up with the facts?

Sports
3:07 am
Mon December 10, 2012

NFL Copes With Another Tragedy

Originally published on Mon December 10, 2012 3:47 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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Economy
2:18 am
Fri December 7, 2012

Superstorm Sandy May Hurt November's Jobs Report

Originally published on Fri December 7, 2012 8:51 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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Latin America
2:04 am
Fri November 30, 2012

High Expectations As Mexico's Pena Nieto Takes Helm

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 4:05 am

Enrique Pena Nieto takes over as Mexico's president on Saturday, marking a return to power of the PRI, which dominated politics in Mexico for much of the 20th century. His inauguration follows his visit this week to Washington and talks with President Obama. Washington is keen to know more about what Pena Nieto plans in Mexico's war on narco-traffickers.

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