Corey Flintoff is NPR's Moscow Correspondent. His journalism career has taken him to more than 50 countries, most recently to cover the civil war in Libya, the revolution in Egypt and the war in Afghanistan.

After joining NPR in 1990, Flintoff worked for many years as a newscaster during All Things Considered. In 2005, he became part of the NPR team covering the Iraq War, where he embedded with U.S. military units fighting insurgents and hunting roadside bombs.

Flintoff's reporting from Iraq includes stories on sectarian killings, government corruption, the Christian refugee crisis and the destruction of Iraq's southern marshes. In 2010, he traveled to Haiti to report on the massive earthquake its aftermath. Two years before, he reported on his stint on a French warship chasing pirates off the coast of Somalia.

One of Flintoff's favorite side jobs at NPR is standing in for Carl Kasell during those rare times when the venerable scorekeeper takes a break from Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!

Before NPR, Flintoff served as the executive producer and host of Alaska News Nightly, a daily news magazine produced by the Alaska Public Radio Network in Anchorage. His coverage of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill was recognized with the 1989 Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award.

In 1977, Flintoff got his start in public radio working at at KYUK-AM/TV, in Bethel, Alaska. KYUK is a bilingual English-Yup'ik Eskimo station and Flintoff learned just enough Yup'ik to announce the station identification. He wrote and produced a number of television documentaries about Alaskan life, including "They Never Asked Our Fathers" and "Eyes of the Spirit," which have aired on PBS and are now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

He tried his hand at commercial herring fishing, dog-mushing, fiction writing and other pursuits, but failed to break out of the radio business.

Flintoff has a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree from the University of Chicago, both in English literature. In 2011, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Drexel University.

Education
8:00 am
Sat November 24, 2012

55,000 Degrees Report Released Tuesday: Louisville Needs to Play Catch Up

Louisville’s 55,000 Degrees initiative will release its second annual progress report Tuesday, and officials say there has been a slight decline in overall education attainment.

The education initiative chaired by Mayor Greg Fischer was created to increase the number of degrees earned by Louisville residents and to promote a college-going culture.

Executive Director Mary Gwen Wheeler says there is some progress in the latest report but not at the rate necessary to reach the group’s 55,000 degree goal by the year 2020.

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Education
7:00 am
Sat November 24, 2012

West End School Breaks Ground On Athletic Center This Week

Louisville’s West End School will break ground Tuesday on a new athletic center, which will be the school’s first new construction project since it opened in 2005.

Congressman John Yarmuth and Mayor Greg Fischer will attend the ceremony this week to celebrate with West End School, which is a free, private college-preparatory boarding school for at-risk boys.

This year, the school extended services to offer day school to kindergarten and pre-K students.

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Local News
3:41 pm
Fri November 23, 2012

Local Groups Stage Walmart Protest

A group of demonstrators led by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union gathered at a south Louisville Walmart today to protest the retail giant’s labor practices.

It was among dozens of Black Friday demonstrations at Walmart stores across the country.

The protesters want Walmart to improve workers’ wages and benefits; they also allege the company has been intimidating employees to prevent them from organizing.

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Local News
2:35 pm
Fri November 23, 2012

Morehead State's Woods Given One Game Suspension for Player Confrontation

Morehead State has suspended basketball coach Sean Woods for one game after he appeared to shove an Eagles player during Wednesday night's loss at No. 8 Kentucky.

Woods will sit out Monday night's game against Norfolk State.

The first-year Eagles' coach appeared to push Morehead State point guard Devon Atkinson in the back and screamed at him after the senior fouled out with 5:51 remaining.

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Arts and Humanities
2:00 pm
Fri November 23, 2012

Worst Kids Ever Take Over Best Christmas Pageant

Credit Stage One Family Theatre
The young cast of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Stage One Family Theatre opens its first public performances of Barbara Robinson’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at the Kentucky Center Saturday. The family-friendly play is recommended for grades 4-8. 

Directed by Lucas Adams, the play is about how a small town reacts when the rowdiest children in town—the Herdmans —decide to muscle their way into the annual Christmas play.

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Africa
12:02 pm
Fri November 23, 2012

Sierra Leone's Diamonds Still A Source Of Contention

Originally published on Fri November 23, 2012 1:53 pm

Sierra Leone's "blood diamonds" helped fuel atrocities in the impoverished West African nation in the 1990s. The war has now been over for a decade, and the country's most valuable resource is no longer known as the product of a conflict. But it remains a contentious issue.

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Local News
11:29 am
Fri November 23, 2012

College Football: Cards Need Win to Keep Conference Title Hopes Alive

The University of Louisville football team plays its home finale tomorrow against Connecticut.

Coach Charlie Strong’s Cardinals need a victory over the 4-6 Huskies to keep their Big East Conference title hopes alive going into their last regular season game at league-leading Rutgers.

"It’s not what anyone is going to do to us, it’s what we’re going to do ourselves. What’s key for us is just our effort, our preparation heading into these next two games and just making sure that we are mentally and physically locked in," Strong said this week.

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Politics
9:55 am
Fri November 23, 2012

Bob Leeper, an Independent, Makes Case to be Next Kentucky Senate President

Credit Legislative Research Commission
State Sen. Bob Leeper

Kentucky’s lone independent state senator says his record as budget chairman is the reason he should be the next state Senate president. 

Originally a Democrat, Leeper made the switch to the GOP in 2000, before becoming an Independent later that decade. He may be the one state senator who can say he has literally worked with each side of the aisle in Frankfort.

Now, he’s hoping to convince Senate Republicans to make him the next president of the chamber, because he has been a loyal GOP caucus member and budget chairman.

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Local News
8:00 am
Fri November 23, 2012

Need Tax Amnesty? Deadline Looms

Credit Finance and Administration Cabinet
Lori Flanery

In just a few days, the deadline will pass for Kentuckians who owe state taxes to pay back without financial penalty.

Delinquent taxpayers can pay what they owe and avoid penalties, fees and additional interest by Nov. 30. Kentucky Secretary of Finance and Administration Lori Flanery says it’s been ten years since Kentucky has offered tax amnesty.

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