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've seen them on PBS, and you've heard them perform all over the globe, they are Celtic Woman, and they're on their 20th anniversary tour.
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It was just about two weeks ago when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Trump v. United States. During arguments, we finally got a hint of what the justices were thinking in a case that has far-reaching implications for not just former President Donald Trump but all former and future presidents.
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Recently, three people were sentenced to prison in Idaho for possessing illegal guns or ammunition. All three cases were prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative from the Justice Department.
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Every day thousands of people use the Five Mile Overpass to commute. It's the only freeway overpass in Boise that has not been rebuilt to make it safer and more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. However, that is about to change.
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High school plant sales are a great way to deck out your garden while helping students.
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We tackle Bird Flu, whooping cough in North Idaho and EMTALA at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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A look back at the lives of two remarkable women who changed the course of American history.
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Despite its hot and rocky terrain the Craters of the Moon National Monument has a very diverse species of plants.
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Vampires, magic, faustian bargains author Victoria Schwab has written about it all.
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Before Ayesha Rascoe started her career as a political reporter, she was a student at Howard University and her experience there helped fuel her new book, "HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience." It’s a collection of essays from everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Branford Marsalis to Stacey Abrams who write about how attending a historically black university helped shape who they are today.