Weekend America Voices
Rick Karr
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Rick Karr is correspondent for Blueprint America. He also teaches radio journalism at Columbia University and regularly contributes stories on technology and culture to National Public Radio News.
Through 2007 and 2008, he was correspondent for the weekly PBS public affairs show Bill Moyers Journal. Prior to that, he was correspondent and regular contributor to Weekend America.
From 1999 to 2004, he was NPR's lead arts correspondent in New York, focusing on technology's impact on culture. Prior to that, he hosted the NPR weekend music and culture magazine show Anthem, and even earlier in his career, worked as a general assignment reporter and engineer at NPR's Chicago bureau.
Rick was nominated for an Emmy award for his 2006 PBS documentary “Net @ Risk,” which made the case that the U.S. is falling far behind other nations with regard to the speed and power of its internet infrastructure. He's also reported for the PBS shows NOW and Journal Editorial Report.
Rick is a member of the songwriters' collective Box Set Authentic. He lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with his wife, artist Birgit Rathsmann.
Recent Stories
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Gas in Them Thar Hills
Over the past few years, prospectors have been combing the hills of Pennsylvania. The mineral that's setting off the frenzy is shale. It's a mile or more below ground, and it's full of natural gas - maybe enough to fuel the entire United States for two years. The "gas rush" could make some Pennsylvanians rich. But it could also pollute the state's air and water.
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America's Infrastructure: St. Louis Paratransit
This weekend in St. Louis, public transit advocates are making a last push to convince voters to pass Proposition M. It would increase sales taxes by half a cent. If it doesn't pass, officials say they'll have to slash services, raise fares, or maybe both. Weekend America and the PBS television project Blueprint America sent reporter Rick Karr to St. Louis to visit the people who're most likely to suffer from service cuts.
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America's Infrastructure: Delaware Aqueduct
The longest tunnel in the world supplies New York City with drinking water. And it's leaking: Just in the amount of time that this show is on the air, the Delaware Aqueduct will leak at least enough to put a football field under three and a half feet of water. It's just one part of America's infrastructure that's falling apart. Reporter Rick Karr has the story of the catastrophe that's unfolding several hundred feet underground.
