Stephen Reader covers politics for It's a Free Country, WNYC's interactive politics site. He joined the station in 2010 and has also worked for Studio 360, WNYC's Peabody Award-winning show about art, culture, and creativity.
Stephen got his start in radio at the College of William & Mary, where he was a DJ and Music Director for the student-run station WCWM. He was a frequent contributor to the station's music magazine Vinyl Tap, and continues to do occasional freelance work in arts and entertainment. His work has appeared on Studio 360, where he also helped produce a piece on Jimi Hendrix for the show's American Icons series, and in The Awl.
As a political reporter, Stephen has covered redistricting, gay marriage legalization, and Egyptian solidarity protests in New York. At the national level, Stephen has covered 2012 electoral politics, campaign finance, health care reform, budget debates, tax policy, and more. He has produced features for the WNYC newsroom and has been a guest on The Takeaway, WNYC's national morning news show.
Born in New Orleans, raised in Virginia, Stephen has a degree from the College of William & Mary. He's on Twitter @reader_stephen.
Sports loyalties often run just as deep as political loyalties, or deeper. Sometimes they even intersect. Do you know who the owners of your favorite teams support? The answers might surprise you.
He may no longer be making headlines or dropping one-liners at the debates, but former GOP front-runner Herman Cain is still an active presence in the Republican Party. The "Hermanator" spoke last night at an event sponsored by the Columbia University College Republicans. Stephen Reader, contributor to It's A Free Country, spoke with the GOP star about his campaign, the remaining Republican field, and his series of controversial YouTube videos.
Every four years, the nation rallies around the presidential candidates, tuning into debates, taking in interviews, going to the polls, and, of course, spending money. But we’re not just talking about campaign donations.
From the old Goldwater Girl scarves to the current Santorum sweater, from freelance TV crews to the security staff that guard political rallies, campaign time means money and jobs for working Americans and cottage industries.
With high unemployment numbers, a slowly recovering economy, protest movements like Occupy and the Tea Party, the economy has been a hot topic for this election cycle. And for some politicians, the most important economic indicator is the price at the gas pump: last week Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich released a 30-minute ad that faults the Obama administration for rising gas prices.
Kambiz Hosseini: Iran's Jon Stewart on the Presidential Election
P is for Prison: Sesame Street and Overpopulation in America's Jails
Overpopulation of Prisons, The History of Privacy & Democracy, Will Snowden Be Extradited?
Arming the Syrian Rebels, Voices Against the War on Drugs, The Eiffel Tower as a Musical Instrument
Extradition or Rendition: How Will the U.S. Get Snowden Back on U.S. Territory?
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