Emily Olson Emily Olson is a news writer and live blog editor.
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Emily Olson

Emily Olson

Editor, Newshub

As a Live Blog Editor, Emily Olson is helping to shape NPR's breaking news strategy and expand its digital presence through original reporting, audience listening, search optimization and network collaboration.

She also serves as a general assignment reporter, covering everything from Donald Trump's criminal indictment to a 5,000-mile-long blob of seaweed heading towards Florida.

Olson previously served as a digital reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's North America bureau. Criss-crossing the U.S. in service of an international audience, she wrote features and analysis on the coronavirus pandemic, the summer of protests over racial injustice and the 2020 presidential election. She also stepped in as an interim supervising producer for the ABC's North America television broadcast unit.

Olson holds a Master's in journalism from the University of Oregon and a Bachelor's in English from University of the Pacific. She completed both degrees with Summa Cum Laude distinction in four years.

In 2017, she was named as a fellow with the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism and spent three months reporting with the East Oregonian. She interned with NPR's Audience Relations team in 2018.

Olson lives in Washington DC.

Story Archive

Thursday

Tech workers said they saw unusually high numbers of men in a monster line for a career expo at a tech conference aimed at elevating women and nonbinary workers. @tamanana YouTube/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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@tamanana YouTube/Screenshot by NPR

Wednesday

Tuesday

A new robot could help fight climate change by sinking stinky seaweed

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Monday

Seaweed Generation's marine biologist Duncan Smallman at the company's workshop in Glasgow, Scotland. Robert Ormerod for NPR hide caption

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Robert Ormerod for NPR

Monday

A screenshot taken from social media shows passengers dangling from the area after the abrupt stop of of the Lumberjack ride at Ontario's Wonderland theme park. Screenshot by NPR/@jiashira_ on TikTok hide caption

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Screenshot by NPR/@jiashira_ on TikTok

Tuesday

A screenshot from the premiere of The Joy of Painting shows the painter Bob Ross with the work, A Walk in the Woods, which is up for sale. YouTube/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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YouTube/Screenshot by NPR

This rare Bob Ross painting could be yours — for close to $10 million

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Monday

Thursday

Natasha Lyonne, pictured here in November 2022, is one of several actors who's auctioning off unique experiences to support TV and movie crews impacted by the ongoing writers' strike Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Vox Media hide caption

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Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Vox Media

Wednesday

Rep. Lauren Boebert, pictured here at the U.S. Capitol in January, was escorted from a Denver theater on Sunday night after multiple complaints of disruptive behavior. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Tuesday

A livestream set up by Explore.org in the Katmai National Park for bear enthusiasts captured a missing hiker pleading for help on Sept. 5. Screenshot by NPR/Explore.org hide caption

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Screenshot by NPR/Explore.org

Thursday

A screenshot from the video released by the Chester County Prison shows the moment escaped Pennsylvania inmate Danelo Cavalcante begins to crabwalk up a wall and out of sight. Chester County District Attorney/Facebook Watch hide caption

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Chester County District Attorney/Facebook Watch

Wednesday

Former YouTube star Ruby Franke, pictured here in a video for her mental health counseling service ConneXions, was charged with six felony counts of child abuse. @Moms_of_Truth/Instagram hide caption

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@Moms_of_Truth/Instagram

Tuesday

Friday

Ruby Franke, pictured here on her Instagram account, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated child abuse. @Moms_of_Truth/Instagram hide caption

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@Moms_of_Truth/Instagram

Who is Ruby Franke? What to know about the mommy vlogger accused of child abuse

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Thursday

Tuesday

This picture taken on Aug. 1, 2023, shows the second supermoon of 2023, also known as the sturgeon moon, rising behind the Cuatro Torres business area in Madrid. Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images

It's big! It's bright! It's a rare blue supermoon! Here's how to check it out

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Monday

Gas is pumped into a vehicle at a gas station in Miami, Florida in January. Officials are warning of a "potentially widespread" fuel contamination in the state, which could hamper evacuations from Tropical Storm Idalia. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Saturday

People participate in the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Monday

A worker from the Coachella Valley Water Department surveys debris flowing across a road following heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary, in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Monday. David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images

Friday

After collecting data using LiDAR, researchers were able to visually strip away trees in a lab and reveal the ruins of Ocomtun. University of Houston hide caption

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University of Houston

The key to uncovering an ancient Maya city? Lasers

Today we enter into the plot of a summer blockbuster adventure movie. Regina talks to NPR reporter Emily Olson about the recently uncovered ancient Maya city, Ocomtun. The large site, which researchers found using LiDAR technology, even seems to have "suburbs," flipping their expectations about how robust the Maya civilization was — and where it was.

The key to uncovering an ancient Maya city? Lasers

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Thursday

The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington on Aug. 5. Judge Tanya Chutkan received death threats on her chamber's phone line, a court affidavit says. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images