Rachel Martin
Rachel Martin is the co-creator and host of Wild Card, an interview game show about life's biggest questions. She invites notable guests to play a card game that lets them open up about the memories, insights, and beliefs that have shaped their lives.
Martin spent six years as a host of Morning Edition, and was the founding host of NPR's award-winning morning news podcast Up First. She previously hosted Weekend Edition Sunday.
She served as National Security Correspondent for NPR, where she covered both defense and intelligence issues, and also worked as a NPR foreign correspondent, where she covered the London terrorist attacks, issues surrounding immigration and shifting cultural identities in Europe.
Martin worked extensively in Afghanistan, covering the reconstruction effort after the U.S. invasion and the country's first democratic presidential election. She also reported from Iraq, where she covered U.S. military operations and the strategic alliance between Sunni sheiks and the U.S. military in Anbar province. She traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2015 to report on women's rights, and in 2022, she reported from Ukraine's border with Belarus in the leadup to the Russian war.
Martin was part of the team that launched NPR's experimental morning news show, The Bryant Park Project, a live two-hour daily multimedia program that she co-hosted with Alison Stewart and Mike Pesca.
Martin also previously served as NPR's religion correspondent. Her piece on Islam in America was awarded "Best Radio Feature" by the Religion News Writers Association in 2007. In 2011, her story on racial discrimination in Hollywood won a Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists and her series on the effects of the opioid epidemic on children won a Gracie award in 2019.
She started her career at public radio station KQED in San Francisco as a producer and reporter.
She holds an undergraduate degree in political science and an honorary doctorate from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., and a Master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.
She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, two sons and dog named Lola F. Bear, Esq.
-
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't talk about. Melinda French Gates talks about learning to trust again after her divorce.
-
In an interview on NPR's Wild Card podcast, Melinda French Gates reacts to her ex-husband, Bill Gates, being mentioned in the most recent release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. -
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't talk about. Oprah opens up about how she stayed grounded when she first rose to fame.
-
Oprah Winfrey paid a visit to the NPR podcast "Wild Card with Rachel Martin," and Rachel sent us a sneak preview.
-
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't talk about. Comedian Tig Notaro talks about admiring the way her friend handled death.
-
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't ask. Heavyweight podcast host Jonathan Goldstein tackles the question of whether people can really change.
-
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't talk about. Podcaster and author Mel Robbins opens up about her early failures.
-
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't talk about. Writer Suleika Jaouad talks about how she stays connected to people she's lost.
-
On Wild Card, well-known guests answer the kinds of questions we often think about but don't talk about. Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes talks about why she doesn't care about validation.
-
Father James Martin has become one of the most well-known Catholic priests in the U.S. But his journey to the priesthood took him by surprise after a chance encounter with a documentary.
