Host and editor @AppleNews for #AppleNewsToday, a daily news podcast, and #InConversation, a news/culture weekend show. Formerly of @WNYC and always listening.
Brooklyn, NY
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This was me.
I'm only taking credit so I can also accept fault- months ago I used a wrong pronoun on air. I felt terrible, can't imagine how they felt. & I thought: This is preventable.
I'm making it part of my practice to always ask interviewees. Fellow journos, you in? @WNYC
This morning, a @WNYC journalist asked for my pronouns in a radio interview before questions on a subject unrelated to LGBTQ issues. I was really impressed by that. Looking forward to the day when it's quite commonplace and not particularly impressive.
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I’m too devastated to articulate right now, but I spent so many mornings learning radio with Richard Hake. He meant so much to so many @WNYC listeners. Sending cosmic love to you, radio big brother. I’ll think of you everytime in that half-second before the On Air light turns on.
I’m filling in for @RScottHake @WNYC! I prepped 2 weeks ago and told him I’d post this pic while he was out.
I tried a few captions on him: “The boss!”
He offered “Big brother!” I like that.
Happy (day early) birthday to the best mentor & (radio) big brother I could ask for!
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Friends, this is my last week at @WNYC. I just said goodbye on @TheTakeaway!
I’m v excited for my next gig (I can’t say much more for now) but wow, it’s not easy to leave this place that I love.
A little thread about how I’ve come to think about WNYC, public radio, me & you. 1/
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I’m thrilled to (finally!) share that I’ve joined @AppleNews to co-host a new, daily show about great journalism, alongside @Duartegeraldino! Our very first episode of #AppleNewsToday is out now. Hope you'll join us: apple.news/introducing-apple…
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"The best part that we won this is that we are people of color from the Bronx."
NPR received 6k entries for its Student Podcast Challenge. These 7 middle schoolers won with their pod that smashes period taboos. It's called "Sssh! Periods." Listen below!
npr.org/2019/05/15/721729850…
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I’m excited to be joining the brilliant team at @TheTakeaway for the month of May, filling in for @tanzinavega. Haven’t done a behind-the-scenes shot in a while, but here’s my sunny, at-home studio (and the billboard for today’s show).
Come along: 📻 93.9 FM/AM 820/@WNYC
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Women of @WNYC and beyond: we must speak up and demand accountability. I'm thinking about all of the women in radio, especially WOC, who've been dissuaded, dismayed, and otherwise held back by interactions like these: thecut.com/2017/12/public-ra…
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I'm not religious/spiritual. But I find comfort in imagining the person I've lost in a place they love.
In my last email to Richard Hake I sent a clip of Venice, a place he adored. "To transport you for 20 secs!" I see him there in the piazza now, happy, his coffee always full.
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At the Bedford Ave L station this morning, a group of transit workers are passing out flyers warning riders of the health risks associated with the upcoming L train construction plans. “Learn about the air you’re breathing here!” @WNYC
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Sometimes journalists go to 1 Centre Street for reasons other than news.
(Okay, it IS news. We officially signed our marriage docs. The wedding is in 2 weeks!)
(AND I can confirm reports that the Marriage Bureau is one of the best scenes in this whole stinkin' city.)
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You know what I really love about the early AM team here at @WNYC?
We get to work while it’s still dark out, and every morning without fail someone will point out the window and say, “Look how beautiful the SKY looks!”
And we all go 😯😍 as if it’s our first sunrise.
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I’m taking a few months off from work @AppleNews to fully absorb the fact that I MADE this human! Very grateful to have parental leave, and to have something other than the news keeping me up at night. I’ll be back in the summer! ✌️🥹❤️
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I stand with my former @WNYC colleagues. ✊🏽
@rebel19 says it all: “It’s unconscionable that our newsroom & the org at large fails so miserably to reflect the racial makeup of America, but perhaps even more pointedly, that of NYC. In the year 2020.”
nytimes.com/2020/07/03/nyreg…
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I spoke with @jonstewart about the problem with congress, the media, our attention span…
But he seemed most concerned by the problem with my home studio! I promise Jon, I’m OK! (Here’s the exact moment when my booth began to fill up with water.)
Listen: apple.co/inconversationjs
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Hi @WNYC work friends! I tried sending an email through our work server but it didn't like my images (rude), so here's a quick update from Italy: we had a really extraordinary wedding day. More photos to come. (cc: @seanbowditch @katehinds @alecchamilton @ramesjamsay)
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Some personal news: right now I’m in Italy, I’m engaged, and my heart is full! Feeling very optimistic and excited for what lies ahead.
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"I personally think workplaces should have very little tolerance for bullying and power tripping, not to mention of course sexual harassment... Further, I am literally ashamed to be a man when I hear of so many of these things, almost always committed by men." -@BrianLehrer @WNYC
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tldr: Moms never stop momming. Call your mom!
I was in NJ for work yesterday, so I crashed at my parents’ place overnight and took NJ Transit this morning.
My mom packed me a honey&butter sandwich for the train - and I just found her note! 😭😭❤️
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What a time for this profile. What a time for all of us, who listen and call in and contribute to and deeply admire what happens on the @BrianLehrer Show.
I feel so grateful that Brian was my first boss @WNYC, and I feel so grateful tuning in today.
nytimes.com/2020/03/19/nyreg…
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One last “Are you sure?” before we say “I do!” Picking up our license to wed at the City Clerk’s office today.
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A year ago, my family canceled our Persian New Year gathering. It ushered in a bleak spring.
This year for #Nowruz, my parents are fully vaccinated. I let myself feel joy & hope setting up my haftseen. (It's a table of 7 symbolic S's. My dad's idea to add an 8th: Sanitizer!)
ALT A ceremonial table set for Persian New Year, with a mirror, candles, sweets, painted eggs, and hyacinths, as well as hand sanitizer.
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Lots of Arab and Muslim people in south Brooklyn told me about one particular gripe with Sen. Marty Golden: he once said Arabs in his district don't vote.
“He doesn't think our folks come out and vote. Bring it on then!” -Rama Issa of @YallaBrooklyn
wnyc.org/story/arab-organize…
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I’m working the 🎅🏻 shift at @WNYC, along with a handful of colleagues. Tune in and you’ll hear me on All Things Considered through the late evening hours on Xmas Eve and Xmas Day!
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I’m filling in for the great @tanzinavega on @TheTakeaway today and tomorrow! Absorbing very inspirational ~*~vibes~*~ from this the studio decor! @WNYC
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It's been a privilege to be a public radio reporter. I’m not leaving town, so I hope someday to bump into you (when public health experts agree it’s safe to bump again) so that I can thank you personally for listening.
Contact info is in my bio. Stay in touch!
🙏🏽🥰📻 10/10
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Name a more iconic duo. (I’ll wait.)
I’m switching gears for a few months to cover the midterms for @WNYC, so I won’t be on @BrianLehrer’s show every day bringing you headlines. But I’ll be back, with stories and voices of people across our region! ✌🏽
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Get this: three Sikh friends who grew up going to temple together in Glen Rock, NJ, go on to become a mayor, an attorney general, and a civil rights advocate.
A wonderfully told story by @arunNYC.
👂🏽via @WNYC and 👀 in @nytimes: nytimes.com/2018/08/14/nyreg…
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Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to answer the Q: of all the road rage, why do cyclists get dumped on the most?
On the Brooklyn Bridge, I yelled out to cyclists: "Wanna talk about what it's like to navigate this bridge?" Many came to skidding stops. "YES." "It's awful!"
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Meet Tony the Democrat: just a concerned guy sitting in Georgia, who’s managed to mobilize 18,000+ unpaid volunteers to write #PostcardsToVoters across the country.
My story on @DemocratWit for @WNYC/@Gothamist: gothamist.com/2018/09/12/pos…
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I'm the cohost of PICKLE, a brand new ethics podcast for kids from @WNYCStudios! We ask big Qs like: Are elephants happy in the zoo? A little preview here: @WNYC wnyc.org/story/pickle-philos…
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Getting the jab at the Javits was exactly the kind of communal experience I needed after this harrowing year+.
Thanks to the kind lieutenant who gave me my shot and took a moment to acknowledge: A year ago this seemed impossible, unthinkable. How incredible.
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Museum president @mocanyc Nancy Yao Maasbach (2nd from left) confirms they began retrieving artifacts this morning, after last week’s fire.
She says the 200 boxes they went through are mostly very salvageable. Audible relief from the crowd. @WNYC @Gothamist
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@TheYoungTurks are here! Tune into @WNYC @BrianLehrer now to hear @cenkuygur and @AnaKasparian. #DemsInPhilly
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Me, an unathletic child of immigrants, getting assigned to go out and talk to people about the big American Football match this weekend for @WNYC.
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I’ll be ✈️ to India tonight! This trip is about seeing my grandmother, celebrating our upcoming wedding (fiancé & my mama coming too), and hopefully getting a wedding dress there. 🤞🏽
Talking through style ideas with my Didu now...
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When I started my new job 2 months ago, I gifted myself a studio plant, a monstera (named Macintosh 🍏). A few weeks in, a new leaf started sprouting from a stump. Look at this baby now!
ALT Monstera plant with several stems and wide leaves. One new leaf is starting to grow from a stump.
ALT A newly-formed leaf starting to unfurl.
ALT The new leaf mostly unfurled, and deepening in color from light green to dark green.
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I’m filling in for @RScottHake @WNYC! I prepped 2 weeks ago and told him I’d post this pic while he was out.
I tried a few captions on him: “The boss!”
He offered “Big brother!” I like that.
Happy (day early) birthday to the best mentor & (radio) big brother I could ask for!
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My #WeTheCommuters request: Bring back Etti-Cat!
(These posters are from the @MTA's rider etiquette campaign in the 1960s. Pictures taken at the @NYTransitMuseum.)
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We were hired virtually. Launched a new daily news podcast remotely. Co-piloting and co-hosting through a screen. And finally, nearly a year in, we meet in person! Can you tell we're excited?
(I still can't believe how 3D you are, @Duartegeraldino! 🙈)
#AppleNewsToday
ALT Duarte Geraldino and Shumita Basu hugging.
ALT Duarte Geraldino and Shumita Basu posing for a picture, smiling.
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These images are unforgettable. Thank you to the photojournalists on the ground who are documenting this moment.
@GettyImagesNews @reuterspictures @WinMc @andyharnik @Steffikeith @tingshenphoto @aliciaphoto @NPPA @tasosphotos @APsapplewhite @johnminchillo
& many more.
A protester hangs from a balcony in the #Senate Chamber after Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC #USCapitol #CapitolBuilding 📷: @WinMc
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I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you think you don’t want a bachelorette party because it’s not your “thing” and your friends keep pushing you to have one, just surrender to the goofiness and go to Coney Island.
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Wow I feel so #hip and #cool wearing my @WNYC fannypack! Can you hear the newfound confidence in my voice? It’s yours as a thank you gift if you support WNYC today! wnyc.org/join
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Listening to @BrianLehrer talking about middle names — I just had a baby, and his name is Dario Rohan. First name bridges his father’s & my cultures: Italian and Iranian. And his middle name is from my Indian side, also my brother’s middle name. We loaded his name with meaning!
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I’m hosting All Things Considered today! Crank up your 📻 // Click through to @WNYC to listen live, 4-8pm!
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What a day to return from maternity leave and get back in the host seat at Apple News Today!
(I’m so glad to be back.)
Listen here: apple.news/AJcTMbIaXSreohjHx…
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The first object retrieved from the building post-fire was a live (!) rare Chinese orchid plant, being tended to by H.T. Chen, founder of the Chen Dance Center on the 2nd floor.
Chen told me he yelled and jumped when he saw it emerge. It's a symbol, he's sure.
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Is there a word for the very particular way you miss a departed loved one on their birthday? Richard Hake always knew what to say. I'm holding your memory close, friend. ❤️
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Thank you to this 4th grader, an aspiring podcaster in the Bronx, who gave me my new mantra. 🙏🏽
I will be telling myself I am “the best recording girl in the world” as I host All Things Considered today and tomorrow (Th/Fr), 4-8pm on @WNYC! Tune in, won’t ya?
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Two weeks ago was our wedding! We're still feeling the rush. I want to share a few things about our ceremony. We’re not religious so we put a lot of thought into choosing some rituals that we find meaningful...
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I’m covering super-activated people & hot grassroots efforts leading up to Nov midterm elections.
At the start, I told a @WNYC colleague: “I feel like I’ll be going to a lot of living room meetings.” And I am! Stories to come.
Ideas/tips? DM me anytime.
wnyc.org/story/covering-2018…
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Also: when @WNYC offers a new thank-you gift like a hoodie and we spend air time explaining what a hoodie is, as if we've just arrived on Earth. "It's black, it's got TWO sleeves... it has a zipper, that goes ALL the way up. And it could be yours!" 🤣
When there’s a dollar-for-dollar matching period in the @WNYC fundraiser & the on-air hosts spend a few minutes multiplying numbers by two.
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With Senate Republicans on the verge of blocking voting reform, it's a good time to listen to my convo w @AriBerman on the disenfranchisement of Black voters.
He says history shows us: once voting rights are taken away, it's hard to get them back.
Listen: apple.co/3gJWvfO
ALT Georgia State Senator David Lucas, photographed by Sheila Pree Bright.
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My mum told me this is the first year ever she FORGOT it was #Nowruz (“I lost track! I thought it was tomorrow!”). There’s a lot going on.
Take a moment to celebrate Persian New Year & Spring Equinox with us at 11:49:37pm tonight - a holiday that, to me, has always felt hopeful.
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Today's #publicradiocakeweek theme: public radio cliches.
I present: gluten-free kombucha cake (overpriced ingredients from a NYC health food store), decorated with the most over-used public radio poetry construct*.
*haiku inspired by my days as a @BrianLehrer producer! @WNYC
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Today we’re celebrating the Persian New Year, the spring equinox. It’s a day to be hopeful and grateful, generous and loving. Even if you don’t celebrate, maybe get yourself a buncha flowers? Spring is here! 🧿 Happy #Nowruz!
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What do you do when the news gets so personal?
I WhatsApp’d my grandmother in Iran. She responded only with pictures of the family together, celebrating a birthday, with her two great grandchildren.
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It’s my first time back in India after my grandmother died last fall.
I miss her so much. I wasn’t expecting the heartache of walking around her neighborhood without coming home to her.
I keep remembering things she used to say, like the best way to scare off a monkey...
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I’m in India. It’s mango season. This hasn’t happened since I was a little kid. Life changing-ly delicious! 😭
I can’t stop thinking of this @harikondabolu bit. I guess I’m gonna be that Indian dad from now on, huh? “It was the summer of 2022…"
Indian People Love Mangos. From my @NetflixIsAJoke special “Warn Your Relatives.” Available Now!
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Hey #bikenyc -- I'll be on @WNYC @BrianLehrer today from 11:30am-12pm to talk about the long and windy road to getting a bike lane in your neighborhood.
We'll take calls from people who've tried it and have advice to share. Tune in and call in! 212-433-9692
@shubasu hi! Just wanted to say “thank you” for your story about the bike lane activists this morning! I am inspired :)
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🙌🏽 I took second place in newcasting, for a conversation I had with @BrianLehrer on the day of the (partial) solar eclipse last summer! Thanks #PRNDI18!
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Lovely news, on my last day @WNYC, to receive an award for "Use of Sound" in my piece about teen commuters.
It's one of my all-time fave titles too: "Teens Say the Reason They're Loud on the Subway Is They're Having Fun (Ever Heard of FUN, Grown Ups?)"
wnyc.org/story/teens-say-rea…
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Listening to @BrianLehrer’s #GraduatedOnTheRadio show. Shout out to my little cousin Neema who’ll start at NYU this fall and wants to go into medicine - he’s a volunteer EMT in NJ and has worked through the outbreak, which has really put the last year of H.S. in perspective.
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Which one of you taught my 10 year old cousin a) how to send curt, business-sounding emails and b) the word "presumably"? 🤣🤣
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I call this The Dance of the Hot Beverages: Pre-6AM.
I’m hosting Morning Edition @WNYC today and tomorrow (Jan 2&3). Do tune in!
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I’m cohosting a kids podcast about philosophy and ethics called PICKLE! Listen with your little ones (or for a break from the news)!
Is it ever okay to tell a lie? What makes a real friend? We answer these tough questions and more in our new podcast Pickle—just for kids! Watch the trailer here and subscribe: wny.cc/dV9630h6Am6
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A friendly Trader Joe’s clerk noticed my @WNYC tote, asked what I do there.
“Transit reporter!”
His reply: “Cool! Your thoughts on congestion pricing?”
We think about transit issues all the time. Let’s report on it together. Fill out this <5min survey: gothamist.com/2019/03/14/com…
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Okay okay, it’s no #RoyalWedding, but check out my dapper parents in a sari and kilt at a family wedding in Scotland today! 🙌🏽 (They’re the 👫 in the middle.)
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I would’ve taken a longer time lapse, but I gotta get back to making radio... (on Varick Street) @WNYC
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Shout out to everyone who starts their day with WNYC. (Especially the under-35 crowd. I see you.)
Shout out to anyone who’s called in. (Takes guts!)
Shouts to anyone being interviewed for the first time on WNYC. (You'll do great.)
Shouts to sustaining members. (Thank you.)
7/
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Excited to guest-host @TheTakeaway this Mon&Tues! We’ll talk news, but one Q we’re asking: how do you put your own twist on the holidays?
This year, I married into a v Christmas-y family. Our 🎄 has Indian wedding garlands & ornaments filled w petals from our celebration. @WNYC
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The view from inside the All Things Considered studio @WNYC, on this New Years Eve. 🥳
(Don’t worry, my phone remains on ✈️ mode during the live show! 🔕)
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This plucks at a very sweet string in my heart.
Maybe because I grew up being told my name is "difficult." (I sometimes get that as an adult too.) I find it so deeply sweet, the way @WNYC listeners are familiar with my name, how easily they use it, like a friend.
Thank you!
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Italian husband took @NYGovCuomo’s Sunday sauce suggestion extremely literally. (I got our day started with a little Dutch baby.) ((We’re finding our usual joy while cooking together is only amplified by isolation! ☺️))
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For years, I've used my Notes app to document overheard quotes. This one crosses my mind often, by a woman who said she was homeless, asking for $ on the subway. #WeTheCommuters
My latest on homelessness &the psychology of going unseen: (@WNYC/@Gothamist) gothamist.com/news/what-happ…
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I spoke with @jaketapper about his story for @TheAtlantic, on #AppleNewsToday.
Here’s how Jake describes CJ: "He is a nice guy. He's smart. I think he's still stunned after more than 10 years in prison that this happened to him."
Listen to the episode: apple.co/3fV2wrX
For 2+ years I’ve been researching the case of CJ Rice, whom my pediatrician dad says was physically incapable of committing the crime for which he’s doing up to 60 years in prison…
The injustice is actually much worse than I thought:
theatlantic.com/magazine/arc…
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Today I visited aspiring podcasters in 3rd & 4th grade at PS 059 in the Bronx. We talked about @picklepodcast (they're fans!) and they told me how they're thinking about scripting, sound effects, and how to be expressive with your voice. A thoughtful group of storytellers!
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Jay St-Metrotech is now an “Accessible Station Lab,” where the @MTA is testing out new features to make the station easier to navigate for people with disabilities.
Here are some of the new design elements...
#WeTheCommuters
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Chelsea is “the most homesick neighborhood” based on the # of meatloaf orders, says Seamless.
1) Home for me was steamed rice, saffron, crunchy potatoes at the bottom of the pot. Never meatloaf.
2) People are out here ordering meatloaf?? 🤷🏻♀️
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Commuting is not known to bring out the best of us. But one @NJTRANSIT train conductor (who's retiring this week) is so beloved by his regular passengers, they threw him a retirement party on the morning train.
#WeTheCommuters
🎧 via @WNYC
wnyc.org/story/rolling-retir…
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why WHY WHY does it feel like I'm committing an elaborate crime every 3 months just to ensure that I get my birth control pills on time??
(This tweet has been sitting in my drafts for over a year. Today I finally take it off the shelf. I can't be alone in feeling this!)
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The many faces of recording #AppleNewsToday at 4am...
Our second episode is out! You'll learn how costly it is to run safe & smooth elections in a pandemic, which animals instinctively *get* social distancing, & more. Free to listen: @AppleNews podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
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The people who make Morning Edition @WNYC are honestly the best around. They surprised me with an early-birthday breakfast spread, even though I am a traitor who recently left their team and wakes up at normal-people-hours now 😭 Thank you!
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I'm on @WNYC with @Steronious talking about Rep. gubernatorial candidate @marcmolinaro's town hall on Staten Island last night.
The biggest applause lines were for:
a) accountability in Albany
b) anything about tax cuts
c) Nicole Malliotakis
Listen: wnyc.org/story/molinaro-stat…
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As a kid, I explained this to many friends' parents. & I continue to say it. On our 2016 trip, my bf was approached by lots of strangers: "God bless you for coming!" "Please tell Americans we are kind!"
There's such a huge, damaging perception gap between Americans & Iranians.
Roya, an Iranian translator and citizen says people in her country have no hostility towards the US. That's the voice of the regime, she says.
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On today's episode of #AppleNewsToday, we bring you three sharp perspectives from Indian writers on why the country is seeing such a devastating 2nd wave.
Analyses by @RanaAyyub in @TIME, Arundhati Roy in @guardian, & @VidyaKrishnan in @TheAtlantic.
apple.co/2Rd9qwe
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I’ll be in the All Things Considered chair @WNYC this evening.
Something I reflect on often: An amazing thing about NYC is - no matter how “far away” a story you hear on the radio may be, guaranteed it’s personal for at least one person who lives here. Listen with compassion.
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A glimpse at my inbox, overflowing with original poems by @WNYC listeners for #NationalPoetryMonth, all shared with permission. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Haiku by Jasper Cox (12 yrs old in Park Slope)
Coronavirus
I can not believe that it
Is five syllables
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