Frank Langfitt
Frank Langfitt is NPR's London correspondent. He covers the UK and Ireland, as well as stories elsewhere in Europe.
Langfitt arrived in London in June 2016. A week later, the UK voted for Brexit. He's been busy ever since, covering the most tumultuous period in British politics in decades. Langfitt has reported on everything from Brexit's economic impact, and terror attacks to the renewed push for , political tensions in and Megxit. Langfitt has contributed to NPR podcasts, including , , and . He also appears on the BBC and PBS Newshour.
Previously, Langfitt spent five years as an NPR correspondent covering China. Based in Shanghai, he drove a free taxi around the city for a series on a changing China as seen through the eyes of ordinary people. As part of the series, Langfitt drove passengers back to the countryside for Chinese New Year and served as a . He expanded his reporting into a book, (Public Affairs, Hachette).
While in China, Langfitt also reported on the government's infamous � secret detention centers � as well as his own travails taking , which he failed three times.
Before moving to Shanghai, Langfitt was NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi. He reported from , covered the in Somalia, and interviewed imprisoned , who insisted they were just misunderstood fishermen. During the Arab Spring, Langfitt covered the uprising and crushing of the democracy movement in Bahrain.
Prior to Africa, Langfitt was NPR's labor correspondent based in Washington, DC. He covered coal mine disasters in West Virginia, the 2008 financial crisis and the bankruptcy of General Motors. His story with producer Brian Reed of how GM failed to learn from a joint-venture factory with Toyota was featured on and has been taught in business schools at Yale, Penn and NYU.
In 2008, Langfitt covered the Beijing Olympics as a member of NPR's team, which won an Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting. Langfitt's print and visual journalism have also been honored by the Overseas Press Association and the White House News Photographers Association.
Before coming to NPR, Langfitt spent five years as a correspondent in Beijing for The Baltimore Sun, covering a swath of Asia from East Timor to the Khyber Pass.
Langfitt spent his early years in journalism stringing for the Philadelphia Inquirer and living in Hazard, Kentucky, where he covered the state's Appalachian coalfields for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Prior to becoming a reporter, Langfitt dug latrines in Mexico and drove a taxi in his hometown of Philadelphia. Langfitt is a graduate of Princeton and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
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China's rapid growth has been fueled in large part by rampant borrowing. Local governments have racked up nearly $3 trillion in debt. Experts say such growth isn't sustainable, but the Communist Party controls the banking system, so defaults aren't likely.
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NPR's Frank Langfitt recently decided to apply for a driver's license in China. Since he already has a U.S. license, the main requirement was passing a computerized test on the rules of the road in China. He's been driving for decades, and figured it would be a breeze. He was wrong.
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The young ruler of North Korea stunned the world when he ordered his uncle executed. Now, observers are reading the tea leaves for a sign of what's to come.
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The uncle of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un was once among the most powerful men in the secretive country. Then, without warning, he was reportedly arrested and executed as a traitor.
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Volunteers in more than 20 countries this weekend shot free, studio-quality portraits of more than 16,000 people who otherwise couldn't have afforded them. Getting people in one Shanghai neighborhood to smile wasn't easy. Some had never had portraits taken before.
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Demographers say China needs more children because the country is aging and the workforce is shrinking. But raising kids costs so much these days that many parents are expected to forgo the option of having a second child.
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China has declared a sprawling air defense identification zone that covers disputed islands controlled by Japan. It also sent its lone aircraft carrier for trials in the South China Sea. The moves are being closely watched in the Philippines, a key U.S. ally that has seen its own territorial dispute with China.
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A bustling market has sprung up across several blocks of downtown Tacloban two weeks after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed much of the city. Most of the goods were looted in the frenzy that followed the storm. One man is even offering haircuts, making more money now than before Haiyan struck.
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A triple stabbing at a Chinese hospital is the latest in a string of attacks against doctors by disgruntled patients. Policies intended to improve and expand health care have led to overcrowded facilities, overwhelmed doctors and corruption.
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A photo posted on a local Chinese government website purports to portray officials visiting a 100-year-old woman. But the men appear to be about 20 feet tall � and one of the officials has no legs.