Tom Gjelten
Tom Gjelten reports on religion, faith, and belief for NPR News, a beat that encompasses such areas as the changing religious landscape in America, the formation of personal identity, the role of religion in politics, and conflict arising from religious differences. His reporting draws on his many years covering national and international news from posts in Washington and around the world.
In 1986, Gjelten became one of NPR's pioneer foreign correspondents, posted first in Latin America and then in Central Europe. Over the next decade, he covered social and political strife in Central and South America, the first Gulf War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the transitions to democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
His reporting from Sarajevo from 1992 to 1994 was the basis for his book Sarajevo Daily: A City and Its Newspaper Under Siege (HarperCollins), praised by the New York Times as "a chilling portrayal of a city's slow murder." He is also the author of Professionalism in War Reporting: A Correspondent's View (Carnegie Corporation) and a contributor to Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know (W. W. Norton).
After returning from his overseas assignments, Gjelten covered U.S. diplomacy and military affairs, first from the State Department and then from the Pentagon. He was reporting live from the Pentagon at the moment it was hit on September 11, 2001, and he was NPR's lead Pentagon reporter during the early war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Gjelten has also reported extensively from Cuba in recent years. His 2008 book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking), is a unique history of modern Cuba, told through the life and times of the Bacardi rum family. The New York Times selected it as a "Notable Nonfiction Book," and the Washington Post, Kansas City Star, and San Francisco Chronicle all listed it among their "Best Books of 2008." His latest book, A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story (Simon & Schuster), published in 2015, recounts the impact on America of the 1965 Immigration Act, which officially opened the country's doors to immigrants of color. He has also contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other outlets.
Since joining NPR in 1982 as labor and education reporter, Gjelten has won numerous awards for his work, including two Overseas Press Club Awards, a George Polk Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, he began his professional career as a public school teacher and freelance writer.
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet says "The chief task of the poet is to look closely at places that are often ignored or disregarded." She sees that come into play in some listener-submitted poems. -
The county sheriff said Rodney Howard-Browne's "reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk." He has questioned the seriousness of the coronavirus threat.
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Many churches have moved worship services online, but there are some problems technology can't solve. Pastoral associate Kathie Amidei says she must find new ways "to be a conduit of God's love." -
The decision of whether to cancel worship services depends on health considerations, government orders, and maybe even political leanings. Smaller churches face bigger problems. -
A new survey from the Pew Research Center shows that U.S. evangelicals are far more likely than other Americans to see President Trump as "honest" and "morally upstanding" and "somewhat religious." -
The bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is considering whether a law in India that excludes Muslims from immigrating to the country sets the stage for genocide there.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders could become the first Jewish president of the U.S. Yet he has angered many Jews with his criticism of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group.
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Attorney General William Barr delivered a highly ideological speech to religion broadcasters on Wednesday — characterizing progressivism as "totalitarian democracy."
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Indian Americans generally vote with Democrats and identify with other immigrant groups, but the stirrings of Hindu nationalism may be shifting that alignment.
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President Trump is announcing an initiative to "safeguard" the right of students and teachers to pray in school. Court decisions will limit what he can do.
