Elissa Nadworny
Elissa Nadworny reports on all things college for NPR, following big stories like unprecedented enrollment declines, college affordability, the student debt crisis and workforce training. During the 2020-2021 academic year, she traveled to dozens of campuses to document what it was like to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Her work has won several awards including a 2020 Gracie Award for a story about student parents in college, a 2018 James Beard Award for a story about the Chinese-American population in the Mississippi Delta and a 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation.
Nadworny uses multiplatform storytelling – incorporating radio, print, comics, photojournalism, and video — to put students at the center of her coverage. Some favorite story adventures include crawling in the sewers below campus to test wastewater for the coronavirus, yearly deep-dives into the most popular high school plays and musicals and an epic search for the history behind her classroom skeleton.
Before joining NPR in 2014, Nadworny worked at Bloomberg News, reporting from the White House. A recipient of the McCormick National Security Journalism Scholarship, she spent four months reporting on U.S. international food aid for USA Today, traveling to Jordan to talk with Syrian refugees about food programs there.
Originally from Erie, Pa., Nadworny has a bachelor's degree in documentary film from Skidmore College and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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A lady's maid and a gentleman's valet fall in love and hatch a plan to get their employers together in the new novel "A Perfect Hand." NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with author Ayelet Waldman about it.
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Florida's controversial immigration detention center nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" may be closing soon. It's been very expensive to operate.
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NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks to reporters Ginny Monk and Dave Altimari of the Connecticut Mirror about their Pulitzer-winning investigations on predatory towing practices.
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NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks to Mehrzad Boroujerdi of the Missouri University of Science and Technology about the status of the Trump Administration's negotiations to end the war on Iran.
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Sara Novic's new memoir is a story about motherhood and deaf history. NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks to Novic about her book, "Mother Tongue."
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Celebrated author Mac Barnett is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and has a new, short book about writing for kids: "Make Believe." He talks with NPR's Elissa Nadworny about it.
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This year's winner in NPR's College Podcast Challenge is a letter to a grandparent that grapples with health issues including dementia. It's the story of a family learning to talk about hard things. -
NPR's Elissa Nadworny speaks to singer Jessie Ware about finding her inner diva in her new album, "Superbloom."
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A woman tries to make sense of her inappropriate college affair with the help of an unusual saint. NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with Julia Langbein about her comic novel, "Dear Monica Lewinsky."
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New data from the U.S. Education Department show the extent of international gifts and contracts to colleges and universities.
