Rob Schmitz
Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Shanghai, covering the human stories of China's economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China's impact beyond its borders has taken him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Inside China, he's interviewed elderly revolutionaries, young rappers, and live-streaming celebrity farmers who make up the diverse tapestry of one of the most fascinating countries on the planet.
Schmitz has won several awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award. His work was also a finalist for the 2012 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. His reporting in Japan — from the hardest-hit areas near the failing Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami — was included in the publication 100 Great Stories, celebrating the centennial of Columbia University's Journalism School. In 2012, Schmitz exposed the fabrications in Mike Daisey's account of Apple's supply chain on This American Life. His report was featured in the show's "Retraction" episode.
From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for Marketplace. He's also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC, and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He speaks Mandarin and Spanish. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Schmitz is the author of Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road(2016), a profile of individuals who live, work, and dream along a single street that runs through the heart of China's largest city.
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The late American composer John Cage left it up to the performer to decide how long his work, Organ2/ASLSP, should take. A group in Germany is testing the limits. -
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she welcomes development of a COVID-19 tracing app that protects data and doesn't store users' locations. It uses Bluetooth to log proximity to other cellphones.
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As Europe's largest economy gets hit with COVID-19, a German government financial aid program will make up some of the lost income for millions of employees. -
Produced by the public broadcaster NDR, the program features scientist Christian Drosten giving clear information about COVID-19, but so far it's in German only. -
Italy's fatality rate hovers around 10%. France's is at around 5%. Yet Germany's fatality rate from COVID-19 is just 0.5%. As of March 25, there were 175 deaths and 34,055 cases. -
Merkel put herself under self-quarantine after learning that her doctor had tested positive for COVID-19. -
The European Union is closing its external borders for 30 days to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Movement within EU member nations will still be allowed.
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Italy remains the hardest-hit country in Europe — though other nations are seeing rising numbers of coronavirus cases and are moving to shut down place where groups of people gather.
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The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won big in this month's Brandenburg and Saxony state elections. A recent poll shows the AfD more popular than ever throughout Germany. -
One of the first schools to close in Germany because of a student's possible link to the coronavirus, is also the one attended by the children of NPR's Berlin correspondent.
