Samantha Wright
Idaho Matters Senior ProducerExpertise: Reporting, producing, writing, editing, hosting, interviewing, board operating
Education: Boise State University + interviewing every expert and reading every book I can find to constantly keep learning
Highlights
- I got to chase Martian Dust Devils in the Oregon desert
- I wisely skipped breakfast the day I flew in a Red Baron Squadron Stearman stunt biplane
- My tombstone will probably read “Brought the Parachuting Beavers story to Idaho”
- I rode in the belly of an M1 Abrams Tank across the Idaho desert
Experience
As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio. I am so grateful to have been honored by my peers with Edward R. Murrow Awards for my stories including wheelchair rugby, blind bird watching, making pies for Lent, learning to can food during a recession, and walking through a living nativity.
I love playing with audio and had great fun putting together my Canning Makes a Comeback story which won Best Use of Sound from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA). I love interviewing fascinating people from Idaho musician Rosalie Sorrels to best-selling author Sharon Kay Penman. I also sat down with three of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders and several of the surviving Tuskegee Airmen. I hosted “Folk Trails” on KBSU for several years and got paid to play celtic, bluegrass and folk music while chatting with everyone from “Artis the Spoonman” to singer Christine Lavin.
I’ve followed guide dog trainers for Voice of America, reported on how road noise affects Boise’s Foothills for New Yorker Magazine, gathered sound for This American Life, trekked to Stanley, Idaho for NPR for the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, and reported for the New York Times and National Native News. I loved producing stories for the Idaho Storycorps Project each time it came to Boise and had great fun hosting the Legislative Breakdown podcast for several sessions of the Idaho Legislature.
My goal is to find out what’s on the mind of our listeners and to Never Be Boring!
Email: If you have a suggestion for an Idaho Matters segment, please email idahomatters@boisestate.edu.
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How old are the craters on the moon? That’s just one of many questions scientists want to answer with NASA’s Artemis missions, which will take humans back to the surface of the moon. -
Idaho Matters looks at what the 2026 election means for the Gem State. -
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is shrinking, and that means a greater risk of millions of people breathing in heavy metals, arsenic, mercury and other chemical compounds that threaten human health. -
Inspired by PBS’s Antiques Roadshow, Boise State’s "History Harvest" celebrates the late Democratic Gov. Cecil D. Andrus through photos and artifacts shared by the public. -
Idaho has recorded its second flu-related death of the season, and health officials say the virus is already spreading earlier than usual. -
The famous ‘Howard Dean scream’, missing governors, contested presidential elections, political drama and juicy scandals.It’s time for another season of the podcast Scandalized. -
Idaho’s seven national forests cover millions of acres of land in the state, and that’s just a portion of public land in the Gem State. Dick Smith is trying to educate folks about these public lands. -
The actor who played Monk has a new book out and he's coming to Boise. -
From second opinions to bad knees and the medications we take as we age, our health questions often come down to the same thing: How do we make the best decision for our health? -
Discover the stories of Southwestern Idaho's past at the Owyhee Historical Museum, where visitor can experience the lives of some of our states earliest families.
