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Christina Cala
Christina Cala is a producer for Code Switch. Before that, she was at the TED Radio Hour where she piloted two new episode formats — the curator chat and the long interview. She's also reported on a movement to preserve African American cultural sites in Birmingham and followed youth climate activists in New York City.
Before that, she spent five years producing, reporting and editing for NPR's evening news program, All Things Considered. While at All Things Considered, she reported from the Colombia-Venezuela border on the migration crisis, covered immigration from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, told the story of one man moving through the immigration system, field-produced from the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki and reported her first piece from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Her reporting on the border was part of a 2019 Edward R. Murrow award-winning package.
In her role with All Things Considered, Cala served as the show's update producer and director, participating in special breaking news coverage. She also led music coverage for the show, reporting and producing from SXSW, editing music reviews and training the next generation of music critics.
In 2018, she co-founded the MGIPOC (Marginalized Gender and Intersex People of Color) Mentorship Program at NPR. The program includes one-on-one mentorship, scholarships for conferences, monthly brown-bags and an annual speaker symposium. She and her co-founders have presented on the program at ONA, Third Coast, Werk It and more. She and her co-founders received the NPR Diversity Success employee award for their work in 2018.
Before coming to NPR, she reported internationally from Lima on the Carnegie Foundation Global Reporting Fellowship, Munich on the Eric Lund Global Reporting and Research grant, and at the Times/Sunday Times Newspaper in Cape Town.
She graduated from Northwestern University with her Bachelor's of Science and Master's of Science in Journalism.
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Construction on the first new stretch of border wall under the Trump administration is slated to begin this winter. In South Texas, the wall will cut right through a butterfly sanctuary.
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The two artists, best known for their bands Bon Iver and The National, say their new project isn't really a band but a large-scale collaboration involving dozens of musicians.
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The Eagles' 1976 compilation album, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, has surpassed Michael Jackson's Thriller for the title of best-selling album of all time.
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The Rio Grande Valley is the busiest stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border for crossing. NPR recently spent time on both sides of the border here, where immigration is part of everyday life.
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How you feel about immigration can put you at odds with your friends, family or neighbors. In McAllen, Texas, two families with different points of view don't let politics come between them.
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Many in the U.K. are hoping that any tensions with the U.S. over trade are temporary – especially business owners.
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The Tongan-raised Berlin transplant often finds himself between two worlds that couldn't be more different. In his 2017 debut Otherland, Slee celebrates the community he says once othered him.
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The genre-mashing rapper discusses how "wacky" musical influences, self-doubt and the pressure of growing up with Nigerian immigrant parents coalesced on his album DROOL.
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With a few hundred dollars and a karaoke mic, the Indiana band channeled the gritty sound of lost soul recordings on its debut. Christina Cala caught up with the group at this year's SXSW festival.
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NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael and Felix Contreras dish about their favorite new discoveries at South by Southwest 2018 over a plate of barbecue.