Sonari Glinton
Sonari Glinton is a NPR Business Desk Correspondent based at our NPR West bureau. He covers the auto industry, consumer goods, and consumer behavior, as well as marketing and advertising for NPR and Planet Money.
In this position, which he has held since late 2010, Glinton has tackled big stories including GM's road back to profitability and Toyota's continuing struggles. In addition, Glinton covered the 2012 presidential race, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, as well as the U.S. Senate and House for NPR.
Glinton came to NPR in August 2007 and worked as a producer for All Things Considered. Over the years Glinton has produced dozen of segments about the great American Song Book and pop culture for NPR's signature programs most notably the 50 Great Voices piece on Nat King Cole feature he produced for Robert Siegel.
Glinton began his public radio career as an intern at Member station WBEZ in Chicago. He worked his way through his public radio internships working for Chicago Jazz impresario Joe Segal, waiting tables and meeting legends such as Ray Brown, Oscar Brown Jr., Marian MacPartland, Ed Thigpen, Ernestine Andersen, and Betty Carter.
Glinton attended Boston University. A Sinatra fan since his mid-teens, Glinton's first forays into journalism were album revues and a college jazz show at Boston University's WTBU. In his spare time Glinton indulges his passions for baking, vinyl albums, and the evolution of the Billboard charts.
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Overall, sedan sales in the U.S. are expected to show a drop between 6 and 8 percent. Consumers are going for SUVs and trucks instead. -
An American Airlines 767 aborted its takeoff because of what airline says was "an engine-related issue." The plane caught fire and passengers were evacuated. -
The smartphone chipmaker has agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors for $38 billion. The deal allows Qualcomm to rely less on the smartphone industry. NXP makes semiconductors for cars. -
The company posted a profit of nearly $22 million for the third quarter, the first quarterly profit since 2013. Tesla attributes the good results in part to new stores.
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Nearly 500,000 dirty diesel vehicles could be taken off the roads under a settlement approved by a judge in the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal. VW has agreed to pay up to $14.7 billion to resolve claims from consumers and the U.S. government. Customers will be compensated under a VW buyback program, and the company will also pay to offset the pollution caused by the rigged diesel vehicles.
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Consumer Reports has released its Annual Reliability Survey. Lexus and Toyota are the top two, followed by Buick. The company ranks car brands based on a survey of more than a half-million car owners. -
The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties and Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education reached a tentative agreement on the third day of a walkout. -
Wallonia, a French-speaking Belgian region with fewer than four million residents, is holding up Europe's free trade agreement with Canada. -
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, says once the technology is fully enabled, the cars will be able to drive with no human input. Musk says previously built Teslas can't be retrofitted with the latest features.
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A federal jury in Los Angeles found New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose not liable in a civil suit that accused him and two friends of rape.
