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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Officials in San Francisco reversed course and are allowing dispensaries to stay open during the "shelter in place" order. New York made a similar declaration for its medical marijuana businesses. -
Former Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California resigned from Congress earlier this year. He and his wife were accused of misusing more than $250,000 in campaign funds. -
Trolls World Tour in April will be Comcast NBCUniversal's first film available at home on the same day as its global release. The company said some films in theaters will begin streaming Friday. -
The European Space Agency and Russia's Roscosmos planned for a July launch for the ExoMars. They said "the epidemiological situation in Europe" factored into the delay. -
The former Army intelligence analyst was behind bars for not testifying before a grand jury. The order for her release came the day after her lawyers said she attempted to kill herself. -
The original statements were filed this week in a lawsuit brought by members of the U.S. Women's National Team demanding pay equal to that of their counterparts on the men's national soccer team.
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PepsiCo's move to purchase Rockstar reflects shifting consumer tastes, which have steadily moved away from soda to other offerings such as tea-flavored beverages and low-calorie drinks. -
Charles Scharf told lawmakers that the company's structure and culture "were problematic." But he projected confidence that it could win back the public's trust after years of scandals. -
The findings of the interim report were released a day before the anniversary of the crash of Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. -
Elizabeth Duke and James Quigley were scheduled to testify. Democrats last week said Wells Fargo was slow to "correct serious deficiencies in its infrastructure for managing risks to consumers."
