About Jeffrey
Jeffrey Brown is a senior correspondent and chief arts correspondent for the PBS NewsHour.
In his 30-year career with the NewsHour, Brown has served as co-anchor, studio moderator, and field reporter on a wide range of national and international issues, with work taking him around the country and to many parts of the globe. As arts correspondent he has profiled many of the world's leading writers, musicians, actors and other artists. Recently, Brown presented a multi-year series, "Culture at Risk," about threatened cultural heritage in the United States and abroad. He created and hosts the NewsHour's online "Art Beat" and also hosts the monthly book club, "Now Read This," a collaboration with The New York Times.
Brown is author of a collection of poetry, titled "The News" and serves as an advisor to the Sun Valley Writers Conference. His numerous honors include a News & Documentary Emmy Award and multiple CINE Golden Eagle Awards. He earned a bachelor's degree in classics from the University of California, Berkeley, a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, an honorary degree (D.H.L) from Wesley College, and attended the UC Berkeley School of Law.
Jeffrey’s Recent Stories
World Aug 07
The intrepid journalist who exposed Hiroshima’s horrorAfter the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, it was another year before first-hand accounts emerged. Journalist John Hersey helped expose the bomb’s lasting damage, which the U.S. government tried to downplay. In a new book, “Fallout,” which…
Arts Jul 29
Author Claudia Rankine answers your questions about ‘Citizen’Claudia Rankine, author of our July pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about “Citizen: An American Lyric.”…
Poetry Jul 28
The ‘existential wound’ that fueled poet Natasha Trethewey’s acclaimed careerNatasha Trethewey is a two-time U.S. poet laureate and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for her collection “Native Guard.” Now, she has written a memoir about her childhood, the murder of her mother and her own career calling. Titled…
Arts Jul 21
Pandemic brings challenges, new opportunities for music industryThe coronavirus pandemic has dealt a huge blow to the music industry. Large in-person concerts were among the first events to be cancelled and will likely be among the last to resume. And in a recent survey of small U.S.
Arts Jul 15
Hollywood turns scrutiny inward amid national discussion on race and policingIn the weeks since the death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests over police brutality, racial inequality and the legacy of slavery in this country, Hollywood has been having a reckoning of its own. Jeffrey Brown reports.
Arts Jul 14
How the 1st Black head of a major publishing house wants to change the industryIn the wake of protests against systemic racism in the U.S., many industries are reexamining past practices and facing questions about their own racial biases. One new effort puts a spotlight on the world of publishing. Jeffrey Brown reports and…
Arts Jul 10
These Black Americans see a statue memorializing Lincoln in different waysOver the past few weeks, there has been extensive debate across the U.S. about statues depicting the Confederacy and other troubled aspects of American history. In the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the Emancipation Memorial – also known as…
Education Jul 09
The ‘unwise, disruptive policy’ of shutting out international studentsNew rules for foreign college students have stunned American academic institutions. The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that all of the roughly 1 million international students currently enrolled in the U.S. must attend at least one in-person class this…
Arts Jul 01
Author Lauren Wilkinson answers your questions about ‘American Spy’Lauren Wilkinson, author of our June pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about “American Spy.”…
Arts Jun 26
On Broadway, Black artists push for racial equityAs the Black Lives Matter movement strengthens nationwide, calls are increasing for equity in all sectors of American life -- including on Broadway. An all-star cast of Black theater artists has launched a new effort, Black Theatre United, that aims…
