
Andrea Seabrook
Andrea Seabrook covers Capitol Hill as NPR's Congressional Correspondent.
In each report, Seabrook explains the daily complexities of legislation and the longer trends in American politics. She delivers critical, insightful reporting – from the last Republican Majority, through the speakership of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats' control of the House, to the GOP landslide of 2010. She and NPR's Peter Overby won the prestigious Joan S. Barone award for their Dollar Politics series, which exposed the intense lobbying effort around President Obama's Health Care legislation. Seabrook and Overby's most recent collaboration, this time on the flow of money during the 2010 midterm elections, was widely lauded and drew a huge audience spike on NPR.org.
An authority on the comings and goings of daily life on Capitol Hill, Seabrook has covered Congress for NPR since January 2003 She took a year-and-a-half break, in 2006 and 2007, to host the weekend edition of NPR's newsmagazine, All Things Considered. In that role, Seabrook covered a wide range of topics, from the uptick in violence in the Iraq war, to the history of video game music.
A frequent guest host of NPR programs, including Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation, Seabrook has also anchored NPR's live coverage of national party conventions and election night in 2006 and 2008.
Seabrook joined NPR in 1998 as an editorial assistant for the music program, Anthem. After serving in a variety of editorial and production positions, she moved to NPR's Mexico Bureau to work as a producer and translator, providing fill-in coverage of Mexico and Central America. She returned to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1999 and worked on NPR's Science Desk and the NPR/National Geographic series, "Radio Expeditions." Later she moved to NPR's Morning Edition, starting as an editorial assistant and then moving up to Assistant Editor. She then began her on-air career as a weekend general assignment reporter for all NPR programs.
Before coming to NPR, Seabrook lived, studied and worked in Mexico City, Mexico. She ran audio for movies and television, and even had a bit part in a Mexican soap opera.
Seabrook earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Earlham College and studied Latin American literature at UNAM - La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. While in college she worked at WECI, the student-run public radio station at Earlham College.
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In his new book Thumbs, Toes and Tears, author Chip Walter explores the physical and behavioral traits that are unique to humans. He notes that humans are the only creatures to cry, and that technological advances mark another front in our evolution.
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President Bush still has two years left in his term, but author Mark Updegrove says what he does after leaving the Oval Office may be just as important to his legacy. In Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House, Updegrove explores what U.S. presidents do after leading the free world.
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Many cultures incorporate the guitar into their musical heritages, but the instrument is unheard of in traditional Indian music. Guitarist Sanjay Mishra demonstrates how he coaxes Eastern sounds from a Western instrument.
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Casino magnate Steve Wynn acquired Picasso's painting La Reve for $139 million. Then, while showing off the valuable work at his Las Vegas Hotel, he punched a hole in it with his elbow. Ouch.
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The author of Fight Club has a new collection of short stories out, called Haunted. But that's not all he's up to this October. Chuck Palahniuk has a zealous fan base mostly centered around his Web site. But this month, he's vowed to answer fan letters... not e-mail.
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Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads to China for the first formal summit between the two countries in five years. The trip comes at a time of high regional tension, with North Korea threatening to carry out a nuclear test.
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In 1918, Robert Frost inscribed a handwritten poem in the cover of a friend's book. It remained hidden from the world for 88 years, until a graduate student at the University of Virginia recently discovered it. It appears this week in the Virginia Quarterly Review.
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The House passes a bill spending $5.5 billion to increase security at U.S. seaports. The spotty inspection of cargo arriving by sea has long been a weakness in anti-terror efforts, but the issue gained urgency earlier this year, when an Arab-owned firm tried to purchase operating rights at six U.S. ports.
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Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay plans to give up his seat, one week after one of the Texas Republican's top aides pleaded guilty in the corruption investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In addition to a tough battle for re-election, DeLay is facing corruption charges in Texas.
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Rep. Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, announces he is resigning from Congress by June. After his decision became public, Andrea Seabrook spoke the Texas Republican by phone and asked him whether he was backing away from a fight.