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Tamara Keith          

NPR White House Correspondent; Co-Host of the NPR Politics Podcast "Vocalness"

Tamara Keith has been a White House correspondent for NPR since 2014 and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast, the top political news podcast in America. Ms. Keith is also a member of the “Politics Monday” team on PBS NewsHour. Keith has chronicled the Trump administration from day one, putting this unorthodox presidency in context for listeners, from early morning tweets to executive orders and investigations. She covered the final two years of the Obama presidency, and during the 2016 presidential campaign she was assigned to cover Hillary Clinton. In 2018, Keith was elected to serve on the board of the White House Correspondents' Association.

Keith joined NPR in 2009 as a Business Reporter. In that role, she reported on topics spanning the business world, from covering the debt downgrade and debt ceiling crisis to the latest in policy debates, legal issues, and technology trends. In early 2010, she was on the ground in Haiti covering the aftermath of the country's disastrous earthquake, and later she covered the oil spill in the Gulf. In 2011, Keith conceived of and solely reported "The Road Back To Work," a year-long series featuring the audio diaries of six people in St. Louis who began the year unemployed and searching for work.

Keith has deep roots in public radio and got her start in news by writing and voicing essays for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday as a teenager. While in college, she launched her career at NPR Member station KQED's California Report, where she covered agriculture, the environment, economic issues, and state politics. In 2001, Keith began working on B-Side Radio, an hour-long public radio show and podcast that she co-founded, produced, hosted, edited, and distributed for nine years.

Speaking on topics ranging from the latest news out of the White House and Congress to the economic struggles of everyday Americans, Tamara Keith sparks conversation and frequently touches hearts. A keen observer of the barriers faced by women in politics and the demographic shifts that have left parents with little flexibility to manage work and childcare, she parallels her own experiences of career, motherhood and the endless search for balance. Inspiring all with her car seat-to-correspondent tale of achieving a childhood dream by never acknowledging that there were limits, Tamara Keith leaves audiences inspired, informed and viewing current events through a thought-provoking perspective.

Speech Topics

America’s Opioid Crisis

The opioid crisis is killing approximately 142 Americans a day. That's the equivalent of the death toll from 9/11 every three weeks. Add to that the toll on families and the economy. The nature of the epidemic has changed the way the public and politicians talk about addiction and has prompted bipartisan action in Congress. Tamara Keith has been covering the politics of the opioid crisis since 2015, and shares both the personal stories of those affected and the latest on the efforts of policy makers to make changes that save lives.

Healthcare Now: An Up-to-the Minute Update

Tamara Keith has covered the ongoing healthcare debates from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, through both the Obama and Trump administrations and campaigns for the presidency and Congress. Bringing insights from inside Washington and the perspective of everyday Americans that will be impacted by reform, Keith provides context on the very latest developments (which change by the minute). She also explains the political dynamics at play and provides insightful background on how we got to where we are today.

Balancing Work & Life: The Personal Becomes Political

Keith describes balancing family and the two years she spent covering the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton as “complicated but not hard.” For Keith it was a logistics challenge, but for many people finding that balance is nearly impossible. She shares the stories of those she’s covered and looks at the demographic shifts that have prompted policy makers in both parties to propose (though not pass or enact) more family friendly policies.

Women In Politics &That Highest Hardest Glass Ceiling

Women have never had more representation in congress than they have today and yet the numbers are far from representative, at only 19%. And as the 2016 demonstrated once again, breaking the "highest hardest glass ceiling" remains elusive. Keith brings her experience covering Hillary Clinton's campaign to this look at women in politics and the barriers they continue face, both internal and external.

From Backseat Listener To White House Correspondent

Tamara Keith started listening to public radio when she was still strapped into a car seat, now she’s one of NPR’s top journalists, covering the White House and hosting the successful NPR Politics Podcast. How she got here from there is a funny story of not knowing one’s limits that offers valuable lessons for anyone who dares to dream big.

The Road Back To Work: The Great Recession & Its Ripples In American Political Life Today

In 2011, Keith launched an ambitious year-long series following the lives of several Americans who started the year unemployed and searching for work, called The Road Back To Work. In the wake of the Great Recession, getting back to the lives that had before would prove immensely challenging. Disillusionment with institutions and politicians ran deep and all these years later, still does. Keith takes her audience into the lives of the people she profiled and explains what their experience says about this moment in American political and economic life.

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Washington Today: Reflections of from the Campaign Trail to the White House

Oddly enough, NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith began her path to the Trump White House while covering Hilary Clinton on the 2016 campaign trail. Her experiences provide an insightful look into the rise of President Trump and the highly unusual campaign that has become an unprecedented presidency. Relying knowledge gained during years as NPR’s Congressional correspondent, Ms. Keith makes sense out of what’s happening in Washington, clarifying issues and providing colorful commentary on the stories behind the headlines.

Subjects can include:

-Fake News: Why it’s Bad For All of Us. “Fake news” plays on the power of our emotions and capitalizes on the biases we all have. Learn how to detect fake news and identify your own blind spots.

-Continuing Gridlock in Washington. Ongoing political divisions continue to create the impasses and standstills that voters hate so much. From the emergence of the Tea Party movement to the fiscal fights of 2011-13, to the trouble President Trump is having wrangling his own party, Tamara Keith explains why winning definitely didn’t paper over the problems of the Republican Party.

-An Unprecedented Presidency. From the role of First Daughter to the preeminence of Twitter, President Trump is doing things differently. Tamara Keith looks at how the old order has been disrupted—for better and for worse—and how the press and citizens need to respond.

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News

Trump Walks Out Of Meeting With Congressional Democrats : NPR
Joining us now to talk about a day of fireworks in Washington is NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith. And, Tam, fireworks were not the plan for today.
'Can You Come To The White House?' A Reporter's Tale Of A ...
NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith was one of 13 reporters to go with President Trump to Iraq, an assignment that meant keeping a big secret ...

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