Martin Kaste, NPR Biography
Reporter, National Desk, Seattle
Based in Seattle, NPR's Martin Kaste covers the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and western Canada, and occasionally roams farther afield. Martin's reports and features can be heard on all of NPR's news programs and newscasts.
Politics is a big part of Martin's beat, which has meant quality time on the trail of Sarah Palin, Ted Stevens and Larry Craig. He's also focused on alternative energy, technology and privacy — including the lawsuits coming out of the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program.
Smuggling and border security are frequent concerns in the Northwest. In late 2006, Martin broke the story of U.S. soldiers who smuggled home automatic weapons from their posts in Afghanistan and Iraq — weapons which were then used in a bank robbery in Tacoma, Washington.
Before moving to Seattle, Martin spent five years as NPR's South America reporter. He covered the drug wars in Colombia, the financial meltdown in Argentina, the rise of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and the fall of Haiti's president Jean Bertrand Aristide. All told, Martin covered the overthrow of five presidents in five years.
Martin joined NPR fulltime in February 2000, after working in St. Paul as a political reporter for Minnesota Public Radio, which he joined in 1993. He's a graduate of Carleton College, and is married to KUOW reporter Amy Radil. They have two daughters.
