Tamar Charney
Interim Managing Editor, NPR One
Tamar Charney is the managing editor for NPR One.
I’m one of those people who is perfectly content to sit alone in a restaurant, observing the people around me. It’s no surprise I became a journalist because I enjoying wondering what other people's lives are about.
I’ve been a public radio jack of all trades — DJ, newscaster, arts reporter, talk show producer, and for almost a decade I ran Michigan Radio’s on-air, online, and news strategy and operations. Currently, I'm the managing editor for NPR One, which is a new way to listen to public radio news and podcasts from stations, networks like PRI, and producers you've never heard of before, but will love!
Fun fact: I’ve done voiceovers for funeral homes, truck engine repair training modules and even a cartoon hepatitis virus — yes, you read that right.
I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, before the city was full of hipsters, moved to Michigan for school and I stay here because I fell in love with snow, the Great Lakes, and the stories there are to tell about this area.
We want politicians to be consistent and 'authentic' but we, ourselves, 'contain multitudes.' Even our iPhones know that.
When her iPhone didn’t recognize her, she recognized something in herself and all of us. Tamar Charney writes.
Her muse isn't elusive. It's intrusive. And precious.
The joy of listening to music you don't understand
Lost your car keys? Earrings? Here's an explanation.
Why are more and more Main Streets looking more alike?
Like teenagers with identical long straight hair, leggings and UGGs, all our main streets are conforming to the same ideal of perfect smalltown America. This is no accident.
From 35,000 feet up, 'a way to trick a homesick brain to where our hearts are'
We're cocooned. We're far away. We're headed home. And we flip through our photos of ourselves and our loved ones in anticipation. Narcissistic? How about human?
Emojis? I prefer my Icelandic keyboard.
I'm addicted to the weird characters that call to mind Bjork and Vikings. Those Ð and Þ's. Characters unique to the land of fire and ice.
What's a Rolodex? And should she keep it?
For a journalist, your Rolodex once equaled your sources — and your sources equaled your ability to do your job. But what about now?
Detroit still has its scars — but there are signs showing a city on the mend
Let's be honest, there's something to those scenes of decay in Detroit that captures the imagination of photographers and viewers alike. They speak to a cautionary tale about a beautiful industrial powerhouse laid to ruin by the slow disaster that was globalism, racism, corruption and neglect. But despite these lingering images, things are changing and more is improving than just the murder rate.
I don't want to watch. It's an invasion of privacy. But I do.
I and a lot of my fellow journalists felt queasy from the live footage of the inside of the apartment where the suspected San Bernardino shooters lived. In the context of news coverage and social media it can feel perfectly OK to know to much. In real life it is a different story.
Boo! Are you afraid of the haints?
Her house has that hue of blue that in the South was said to keep those mean spirits away. But what about the vampires?
Why my fascination with 'jihadi brides' hits close to home
Put an article in front of me about some 19-year-old exchanging flirty texts with a middle aged militant and I won't get anything done until I finish it.
What we learn from the money we touch
Although we don't have to contend as much with the hassles of bills and coins, another window into culture is being slammed shut.
Why I fell in love with maps
Wanderlust or farsickness? She has it. Her tactile love of the accordion-style folding maps has been supplemented with online clicks to Google Street View and elsewhere. But are the new gadgets making her wanderlust better or worse?