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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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You may have noticed we've had a lot of presidential politics going on lately, and that can be depressing. So, we wanted to take a look at the role comedy plays in this kind of news cycle.
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While we still struggle with cases of COVID-19 and its variants many are looking back over the past four years to figure out what we did right and what we did wrong, with an eye toward the next global outbreak of a virus.
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Before humans came to Idaho, animals migrated across the state without barriers like fences, roads or barbed wire.
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On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced he would no longer be running for a second term and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the nominee to run against former President Donald Trump.
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One week ago, a wildfire broke out eight miles south of Stanley, next to Idaho's iconic Redfish Lake.
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Next week marks 100 years since the birth of Idaho Sen. Frank Church.
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More than 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, September 11 has become the biggest day of service in America.
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Idaho Matters sat down with the states new Health and Welfare director to talk about his vision for the future and how he plans to address concerns from the community and the Idaho Legislature.
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It is once again legal to give someone a ticket for sleeping or camping on public property. Reverend Bill Roscoe joins Idaho Matters to weigh in on the Grants Pass vs. Johnson case and what it means for Idaho.
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This year marks the 109th anniversary of the Snake River Stampede Rodeo!