Brakkton Booker
Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.
He covers a wide range of topics including issues related to federal social safety net programs and news around the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
His reporting takes him across the country covering natural disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, as well as tracking trends in regional politics and in state governments, particularly on issues of race.
Following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Booker's reporting broadened to include a focus on young activists pushing for changes to federal and state gun laws, including the March For Our Lives rally and national school walkouts.
Prior to joining NPR's national desk, Booker spent five years as a producer/reporter for NPR's political unit. He spent most to the 2016 presidential campaign cycle covering the contest for the GOP nomination and was the lead producer from the Trump campaign headquarters on election night. Booker served in a similar capacity from the Louisville campaign headquarters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he produced pieces and filed dispatches from the Republican and Democratic National conventions, as well as from President Obama's reelection site in Chicago.
In the summer of 2014, Booker took a break from politics to report on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Booker started his career as a show producer working on nearly all of NPR's magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and former news and talk show Tell Me More, where he produced the program's signature Barbershop segment.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow. When he's not on the road, Booker enjoys discovering new brands of whiskey and working on his golf game.
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"Scientifically, it is highly likely that the immune response by this vaccine also can deal with the new virus variant," BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said Tuesday. -
Several European nations, including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Italy announced travel restrictions from the U.K. where officials say a new variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading. -
"Conducting the championship in one geographic region allows for more planning and execution of safeguards," an NCAA official said on Monday. The NCAA hopes all 64 teams will play in San Antonio. -
The team is led by Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair who Biden nominated for treasury secretary. Other nominees, like OMB nominee Neera Tanden, may face stiff Republican opposition. -
Among the names: Cecilia Rouse is nominated as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. If confirmed, she'll be the first Black woman, and just the fourth woman overall, to lead the CEA. -
The new curfew for El Paso County, Texas went into effect just after midnight Wednesday and runs through Monday. The judge who issued the order said it was "not as rigid" as he wanted. -
Maradona rose from the slums of Buenos Aires to lead the Argentine national soccer team to World Cup glory, suffered from substance abuse and then had a spectacular second career as a coach. -
"The Morgue Attendant will be provided maximum PPE, will be tasked with physically moving bodies, and will require the ability to lift between 100-400 lbs. with assistance," the job listing states. -
The NCAA said hosting a tournament across 13 U.S. cities "would be very difficult to execute." Talks are underway to try to hold all 67 games of the tournament in Indianapolis in March and April. -
While some details remain, the new season will start on Dec. 22. It will be a 72-game season that will allow for the league's traditional slate of games on Christmas Day.
