Arwa Gunja

Senior Producer, The Takeaway

Arwa Gunja is a senior producer at The Takeaway. Arwa is responsible for the day-to-day editorial content of the program and works closely with producers and the host to set the next day's lineup. 

At The Takeaway, she helped to produce a three-part series on voters in Lake County, Ohio during the 2012 presidential campaign season and produced and edited a digital media project commemorating the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.  Arwa also oversees editorial content during breaking news events, including Hurricane Sandy, the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and the fall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Arwa joined The Takeaway in December 2009. Before that, she was a producer at NPR, where she worked on several programs, including Morning Edition and Tell Me More. She also worked with the network's Election Unit to cover the 2008 presidential election, including election night coverage and President Barack Obama's inauguration.

In spring 2012, Arwa was selected as a fellow with the International Center for Journalists, based in Washington, D.C. Through the fellowship, she traveled to France to report on the impacts of the country's "burqa ban" legislation one year later.

Arwa graduated from New York University in 2007 with a degree in journalism. 

Arwa Gunja appears in the following:

Your Questions About the Affordable Care Act, Answered

Friday, May 17, 2013

Jennifer Tolbert, director of State Health Reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation, responds to listener questions and concerns about the Affordable Care Act.

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Tragedy Strikes Another Garment Factory in Bangladesh

Thursday, May 09, 2013

As the grim count of the dead continues to rise from that garment factory collapse last month in Bangladesh, a fire overnight in a different garment factory there killed at least 8 more people. Muhammad Yunus is an economist, founder of the Grameen Bank, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

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Lessons From a Female Union Electrician

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Rochelle James is a proud union electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3. She is a single mom whose challenges to make life and career go smoothly sound a lot like the challenges of bank president Karen Peetz or senior tech executive Padmasree Warrior or journalist Judy Woodruff. For Rochelle James, white collar or blue collar, the lessons and the tough wisdom are all the same.

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Cleveland Alarmed After Abduction Case

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Cleveland is feeling a mix of emotions this week after the discovery and rescue of three young women who were kidnapped 9, 10, and 11 years ago and held captive in a residential home for years. The community is celebrating their safe return, but there are also questions and alarm. Connie Schultz, syndicated columnist and Cleveland resident, says the community is reeling.

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Ray Harryhausen, Special Effects Master, Dies at 92

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Call it "Rex appeal." Tributes are being paid to Ray Harryhausen, visual effects creator, writer, and producer, and stop-motion dinosaur legend. He died last night at the age of 92.

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Karen Peetz on Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

All this week we're talking to women and mothers about the real struggles of making a full life fit into a career or vice versa. At home Karen Peetz is a mother of two, and at work she's the president of The Bank of New York Mellon, a multinational bank and financial services corporation with over $1.4 trillion in assets.

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Judy Woodruff Once Thought She Could Do it All

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

All this week we're talking to women and mothers who have harnessed smarts, spirit, and self-awareness to break into male-dominated careers and rise to the top. Judy Woodruff has covered news and politics as a broadcast journalist for more than three decades for PBS, CNN, and NBC. She is also a wife and mother of three, including a son with spina bifida. Her children are now grown but she hasn't forgotten the feelings of guilt and sacrifice that accompanied juggling a demanding career with a busy home life.

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Trespassing, Vandalism, and Peace Activism in Oak Ridge

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

This week, three peace activists go on trial. They're accused of breaking into one of the country's most secure nuclear-weapons facilities. The trio -- an 57-year-old house-painter, a 64-year-old drifter, and an 83-year-old nun -- managed to defy the multi-million dollar security apparatus of the Y-12 nuclear-weapons facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

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Padmasree Warrior on Why She Doesn't Believe in Work-Life 'Balance'

Monday, May 06, 2013

The "Lean In" ideas of Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg and the challenges facing tech leaders like Marissa Mayer at Yahoo have been much discussed topics over the last few months. But some voices have been lost in this conversation. In a new series, we mine the wisdom of women who have found success in an all male world and who aren't appearing on "60 Minutes" or selling advice books. Padmasree Warrior is the Chief Technology and Strategy Officer for Cisco.

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Responses: How do you Define 'Justice' today in America?

Monday, May 06, 2013

Last week, we aired a special episode that examined the concepts of law and justice, from the abstract principles of Plato's Athens to the concrete challenges of achieving justice in multicultural, modern America. We asked you to define what justice means to you and to share your own experiences with the American justice system.

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Striving for Justice in a Multicultural Society

Friday, May 03, 2013

In countries across the globe, communities with very different cultural backgrounds are still trying to reconcile lofty ideals of universal justice with the tensions of tradition, as David Miller, professor at the University of Oxford, explains. And while the problem of justice in multicultural societies may seem like a very modern issue, Martha Nussbaum, professor of at the University of Chicago Law School, explores the original concepts of these ideas, all the way back in ancient Athens.

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Obama Administration Appealing Judge's Ruling on Plan B

Thursday, May 02, 2013

In a move that pits the Obama administration firmly against women's reproductive health advocates, the Justice Department filed a notice to appeal a judge's decision to allow girls under 15 years old to have over-the-counter access to the morning after pill. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich has been following the legal and political battle.

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Friends of Boston Bombing Suspect Charged

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Three friends of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, have been arrested and are being charged by the F.B.I. with crimes related to covering up their friend's involvement in the bombings. Two of the men are accused of putting Tsarnaev's backpack and fireworks into a black trash bag and then tossing the items into a dumpster.

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Hope that the Tragedy in Bangladesh Will Inspire Change

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

History is being made in the nation of Bangladesh this week. In response to the garment factory collapse last week, representatives from major retailers convened in Frankfurt, Germany to discuss what can be done to improve factory safety. Novelist M. T. Anderson recently wrote about the cyclical, unregulated, nature of the industry in an op-ed piece for our partner The New York Times.

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Knowing Your Neighbors: Boston Bombers Lived 200 Yards Away

Thursday, April 25, 2013

After the bombings at the Boston Marathon last week, residents in the city have come together in a sign of resilience. On The Takeaway this week, we're talking about the importance of residents getting to know their neighbors, especially during times of crisis or tragedy. For Hassan Malik, little did he know that the Boston bombers lived just 200 yards from his home.

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Planning for Retirement: "The Math Doesn't Work"

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

With pension plans nearly obsolete and most employees relying on their companies' 401k plans to prepare for retirement, many Americans may not know how to invest their money into these plans and the associated costs and fees that go along with that. 

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The Question of Divided Identity

Monday, April 22, 2013

One week after the tragedy in Boston and several days after the manhunt that resulted in the capture of Dzhokar Tsarnaev and the death of his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, questions have turned to motive and due process. Americans are mystified: what would inspire two young men who went to school in the United States and were part of the community to commit such heinous acts? And what legal rights should Tsarnaev have?

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Depicting Iran Through Street Art

Monday, April 22, 2013

Iranian street artists Icy and Sot's provocative images can be found from Brooklyn, where they are based today, to a wall in Istanbul, Turkey or Tabriz, Iran, the city of their youth. The brothers work in large stencils which they carry to their locations and then cart away before anyone knows they've made their mark. Their art ranges from controversial depictions of life in contemporary Iran to symbols of international youth culture.

 
Iranian street artists Icy and Sot's provocative images can be found from Brooklyn, where they are based today, to a wall in Istanbul, Turkey or Tabriz, Iran, the city of their youth. The brothers work in large stencils which they carry to their locations and then cart away before anyone knows they've made their mark. Their art 
The brothers were persecuted in Iran for their artistics expression and are now seeking political asylum in the United States, where they receive support from the street artist community and have seen their art celebrated at a gallery in Soho.

 

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Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion Leaves Community Hurting but Hopeful

Monday, April 22, 2013

The sense of shock is settling in in West, Texas after last week's fertilizer plant explosion. Lauren Silverman, reporter for KERA in Dallas, Texas, provides an update on how the residents of West are coping and the process of rebuilding.

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The Scene from MIT -- and Listener Messages for Boston

Friday, April 19, 2013

Along with most of Boston, the MIT campus is on lockdown this morning after the death of campus police officer Sean Collier in a shootout with the Boston bombing suspects last night. An MIT student and professor describe the shifting emotions they've experienced this week as this story's developed.

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