About William @WmBrangham
William Brangham is a correspondent and producer for PBS NewsHour in Washington, D.C. He joined the flagship PBS program in 2015, after spending two years with PBS NewsHour Weekend in New York City.
In his first three years, Brangham has done a range of award-winning reporting across the United States and internationally, covering everything from the severity of America’s opioid crisis, the integration of women into combat roles in the U.S. Marine Corps, to a profile of Ina Garten, the “Barefoot Contessa.”
Brangham’s reporting on the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 was among the work cited when the NewsHour won a George Foster Peabody Award that year. The next year, he reported a six-part series on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, which won a series of major awards including an Emmy and the National Academies of Sciences Communication Award. In 2018, Brangham worked on an investigative series about sexual assault and retaliation in the U.S. Forest Service. The day after that series aired, the head of the Forest Service suddenly stepped down.
When he is not out reporting in the field, Brangham is a regular interviewer on the NewsHour, and he has occasionally anchored the weekday and Weekend broadcasts.
During his career, Brangham has also worked on video projects for The New York Times, ABC News, National Geographic and Frontline. Prior to joining the NewsHour, he was a producer and correspondent for Need to Know on PBS, and before that, for Bill Moyers Journal. Brangham worked on several Moyers' documentary series in the 1990s, and was a producer on the critically acclaimed Now with Bill Moyers in the early 2000s.
In 2014, he was an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Brangham lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and three children.
William’s Recent Stories
Nation Sep 17
How Texas gun owners feel about background checks, red flag lawsIn the aftermath of recent mass shootings, calls for expanding gun safety regulations have increased. Although some of these ideas are popular among Americans overall, how do gun owners specifically feel about them? William Brangham talks to gun owners in…
Nation Sep 17
Gun owners in Texas cast a wary eye on gun control debateAfter a second Texas mass shooting in a single month, gun users from several Texas towns are showing just how nuanced people’s reactions can be.
World Sep 13
Climate activist Greta Thunberg on the power of a movementAlthough more Americans than ever are worried about climate change, less than 40 percent expect to make “major sacrifices” to tackle the problem. But according to Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager and climate activist, drastic action is exactly what's needed…
World Aug 23
International pressure mounts for Brazil to counter raging Amazon firesLarge sections of the Amazon rainforest are engulfed in flames, their smoke turning Sao Paolo’s midday skyline to total darkness. Brazilian forest fires are common at this time of year but have spiked since 2018. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who…
Nation Aug 07
‘Not one more.’ Listen to the powerful memorial for the El Paso shooting’s youngest victimWhile there will be many memorials to come for those who died in the El Paso shooting -- and a separate shooting in Dayton, Ohio, that killed nine -- this was the first, and for its youngest victim.
Science Jul 25
As bee populations decline, can technology help fill the gap?Humans rely heavily on pollinator bees to sustain food production globally. But for decades, the insects' population has declined, in part because of pesticide use. If the die-off continues, it will have huge economic and public health consequences for people.
Science Jul 08
Why the reality of the Apollo 11 mission is ‘much more complex’ than the mythologyIt’s been 50 years since the groundbreaking moment the crew of the Apollo 11 mission landed a man on the moon for the first time. Now, a new six-hour documentary airing on PBS’ “American Experience” aims to develop a richer…
World Jun 28
Why is it so hot in Europe?An extreme heat wave is gripping much of Europe, breaking records and causing widespread misery. Temperatures soared well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in France, Germany and Spain. While the heat is coming from sub-Saharan Africa, some researchers say climate change…
Nation Jun 24
Hundreds of migrant children transferred from Texas facility with ‘inhumane’ conditionsHundreds of migrant children on Monday were reported to have been transferred out of a Texas facility following uproar over their treatment. But on Tuesday, 100 children were moved back to the facility in Clint, Texas, which was described as…
Politics Jun 24
Why 11 Oregon state senators aren’t showing up for workIn Oregon, 11 important people are missing: Republican state lawmakers, who are nowhere to be found amid a partisan standoff now in its fifth day. The legislators walked out to stop the state Senate from acting on a contentious climate…
