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Wade Goodwyn

Wade Goodwyn is an NPR National Desk Correspondent covering Texas and the surrounding states.

Reporting since 1991, Goodwyn has covered a wide range of issues, from mass shootings and hurricanes to Republican politics. Whatever it might be, Goodwyn covers the national news emanating from the Lone Star State.

Though a journalist, Goodwyn really considers himself a storyteller. He grew up in a Southern storytelling family and tradition, he considers radio an ideal medium for narrative journalism. While working for a decade as a political organizer in New York City, he began listening regularly to WNYC, which eventually led him to his career as an NPR reporter.

In a recent profile, Goodwyn's voice was described as being "like warm butter melting over BBQ'd sweet corn." But he claims, dubiously, that his writing is just as important as his voice.

Goodwyn is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in history. He lives in Dallas with his famliy.

  • Former Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay turns himself into the FBI to face criminal charges. After a two-and-a-half year investigation into the scandal-ridden energy company, a grand jury on Wednesday returned a sealed indictment against Lay. He's charged with securities and wire fraud and misleading investigators. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Wade Goodwyn.
  • A new style of commercial FM radio station -- based on eclectic music and informed commentary -- represents a backlash against the rest of the industry's consolidation, narrow playlists, and copycat sounds. Stations that have tried the new format have shot up the charts. NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports.
  • Terry Nichols is convicted on 161 counts of murder in the state trial over his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Nichols is already serving a life sentence in a federal prison. The jury that convicted him Tuesday will next be asked if he should be put to death. The penalty phase begins Wednesday. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Wade Goodwyn.
  • Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling pleads not guilty as he is indicted on fraud and insider trading charges. Federal prosecutors say Skilling lied about Enron's finances and intentionally deceived investors. Skilling was released after posting bail set at $5 million. Hear NPR's Wade Goodwyn.
  • Opposition to sex education in high school has galvanized and politically united conservatives. As a result, approximately one third of sex education classes being offered today teach abstinence only. NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports.
  • A new NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School poll on sex education shows that while more than 90% of Americans approve of sex ed in schools, they don't all agree on how it should be taught. In the first of a two-part series, NPR's Wade Goodwyn takes us to an abstinence lecture at a Dallas Middle School, and talks with students about their impressions of it.
  • In the second of a four-part series on Wal-Mart, NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports on the lengths to which some vendors will go in order to maintain a relationship with the retail giant.
  • In the first of a four-part series on the Wal-Mart chain, NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports that the retail giant has its roots in small town capitalism. The company has now developed one of the most sophisticated information management and product distribution systems in the world.
  • NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports that more than 10,000 people attended the memorial service yesterday for the seven astronauts that was held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In his remarks, President Bush remembered the crew members as explorers, as well as scientists.
  • NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports from Nacogdoches, in East Texas, where much of the debris from the shuttle Columbia has been collected over the last two days. Law enforcement officers have been guarding the material, and citizens have been delivering pieces of the wreckage to authorities.