Emily Kwong
Emily Kwong (she/her) is the reporter for NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast explores new discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, Monday through Friday.
Prior to working at NPR, Kwong was a reporter and host at KCAW-Sitka, a community radio station in Sitka, Alaska. She covered local government and politics, culture and general assignments, chasing stories onto fishing boats and up volcanoes. Her work earned multiple awards from the Alaska Press Club and Alaska Broadcasters Association. Prior to that, Kwong produced youth media with WNYC's Radio Rookies and The Modern Story in Hyderabad, India.
Kwong won the "Best New Artist" award in 2013 from the Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition for a story about a Maine journalist learning to speak with an electrolarynx. She was the 2018 "Above the Fray" Fellow, reporting a series for NPR on climate change and internal migration in Mongolia.
Kwong earned her bachelor's degree at Columbia University in 2012. She learned the finer points of cutting tape at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2013.
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The mind of the octopus is so different than human intelligence, some people are studying it to see what alien intelligence might look like.
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The Turnaway Study followed nearly 1,000 women who sought abortions, interviewing them regularly for years to understand the impact on their mental and financial wellbeing. -
A Japanese chemist identified umami in the early 1900s, but it took a century for his work to be translated into English. NPR's Short Wave podcast looked into why it took so long to be recognized.
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Nearly 1 billion people speak Mandarin Chinese. NPR Short Wave host Emily Kwong is not among them. As a third-generation Chinese-American, her "heritage language" was lost through the generations.
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Assimilation has a cost. As a third generation Chinese American, NPR Short Wave's Emily Kwong is rediscovering the language her father once knew, and what that means for where she comes from. -
Evidence points to wildlife as the starting point. But it could take years to pinpoint the source.
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Public health has come a long way since the deadly flu, but we find ourselves in an oddly similar moment, using many of the same measures employed in 1918, a medical historian says. -
The Trump administration is investigating the theory that the virus leaked from a lab. Scientists who work with viruses say that's virtually impossible and point to transmission from an animal. -
Imagine a board game inspired by the natural lives of birds. That's the premise of Wingspan, an award-winning game designed by Elizabeth Hargrave. It's been lauded for its scientific accuracy.
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They have seen patients who presented with these symptoms — then tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Now they're gathering data to see if they can prove that there is indeed a connection.
