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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It’s Friday, which means it's time for our Reporter Roundtable when Idaho Matters gets you up to date on all the news that made headlines this past week. -
We're exploring another hidden gem of the Gem state in our Idaho 44 series. -
The Boise Baroque Orchestra is rehearsing for their first summer festival after the tragic loss of their Artistic Director last year. -
Residents flee as more than 600 homes and buildings have burned in Spokane and a shooting kills three in Twin Falls. -
Lincoln County acts as a bedroom community for neighboring Blaine County. We find out how neighbors in Ketchum are helping out. -
Idaho trauma experts share what they're seeing in emergency rooms and why prevention is so important. -
The Ada County Medical Society honored Dr. Patrice Burgess with a Lifetime Achievement Award. -
Boise's Capital City Flute Club is performing a special hometown concert before traveling to Portland to represent the Treasure Valley at the 2026 National Flute Association Conference. -
A new exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is exploring the history and conservation of the American buffalo. -
Idaho lawmakers are teaming up for a coordinated response to the growing rat problem in the Treasure Valley, citing health risks and costly property damage.
