Jennifer Vanasco
Editor, Culture Desk
Jennifer Vanasco is an editor on the NPR Culture Desk, where she also reports on theater, visual arts, cultural institutions, the intersection of tech/culture and the economics of the arts.
She previously worked at Member station WNYC in New York, where for almost nine years, she wore many hats — Arts & Culture Desk editor, evening news editor, fill-in host and newscaster, regular contributor to the arts show "All of It" and award-winning arts reporter. She teaches audio journalism in Columbia University's journalism graduate program and is on the faculty of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center National Critics Institute.
Before audio journalism, she was editor in chief of MTV's 365Gay.com, which at the time was the country's largest LGBTQ+ news site; created and wrote the Minority Reports column for Columbia Journalism Review; and for over a decade was a syndicated newspaper columnist on gay issues.
She has received many awards for her work, including the New York Radio Festivals Silver Award, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association Excellence in Radio Award, the National Headline Award, the Peter Lisagor Award, plus awards from the Associated Press, the New York State Broadcasters Association, the Webbys and others. She graduated from Wellesley College.
