Maureen Pao
Maureen Pao is an editor, producer and reporter on NPR's Digital News team. In her current role, she is lead digital editor and producer for All Things Considered. Her primary responsibility is coordinating, producing and editing high-impact online components for complex, multipart show projects and host field reporting.
She also identifies and reports original stories for online, on-air and social platforms, on subjects ranging from childhood vaccinations during the pandemic, baby boxes and the high cost of childcare to Peppa Pig in China and the Underground Railroad in Maryland. Most memorable interview? No question: a one-on-one conversation with Dolly Parton.
In early 2020, Pao spent three months reporting local news at member station WAMU as part of an NPR exchange program. In 2014, she was chosen to participate in the East-West Center's Asia Pacific Journalism Fellowship program, during which she reported stories from Taiwan and Singapore.
Previously, she served as the first dedicated digital producer for international news at NPR.
Before coming to NPR, Pao worked as a travel editor at USA TODAY and as a reporter and editor in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
She's a graduate of the University of Virginia and earned a master's in journalism from the University of Michigan. Originally from South Carolina, she can drawl on command and talk about dumplings all day. She lives with her family in Washington, D.C.
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From his earliest days picking peas to improving wages and working conditions as a union leader, Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to giving voice to the exploited men and women who grow America's food. -
The system was set up to ensure that divorced fathers supported their kids. But it has failed to keep up with growing inequality and the rise of nonmarital births. -
The Catholic Church in the U.S. has been aging, along with its dwindling priestly ranks. But in the increasingly secular world, there's been a recent uptick in younger men studying to become priests. -
The natural disaster of Katrina and the man-made tragedy that followed catapulted local figures and obscure federal officials into the spotlight. -
Tiny Singapore imports almost all of its food. From gardens on deserted car parks to vertical farms in the vanishing countryside, a movement is afoot to help boost its agricultural production. -
A trade deal allowing Chinese investment in more service sectors was the provocation. But the real issue is Taiwan's sense that it's losing its identity and being overwhelmed by its powerful neighbor. -
In pursuit of beauty, women around the globe subject themselves to complicated and bizarre, not to mention dangerous, procedures. In the West, that can mean going for darker skin. In Africa and parts of Asia, the opposite is the goal. Seriously, a sister just can't win. -
Outrage in the U.S. over a French photo spread featuring a seductively arrayed 10-year-old model helped spur proposed legislation to ban child beauty pageants in France. That's ironic considering how popular, prevalent and lucrative the American child, or "glitz," beauty pageant industry is. -
Turns out that a Renoir painting purchased for $7 in West Virginia wasn't just lost — it was stolen. Documents show it vanished from a Baltimore museum six decades ago. Its planned auction has been put on hold, and the FBI is investigating. -
Chinese New Year celebrations are all about family and food. This year, a loving daughter is preparing the holiday dinner for her parents for the first time. Thing is, she isn't a very good cook.
