Jennifer Ludden
Jennifer Ludden is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk where she covers housing, homelessness, poverty and inequality.
She tells stories of people struggling with the country's massive shortage of affordable housing, and explores policies and programs that try to help. She tracks changing laws around homelessness, and how communities are managing the record number of people without housing. Ludden has reported on millionaires lobbying working-class voters about the dangers of the economic divide; on tackling poverty with cash aid; and the struggle to get AC in public housing. She also helps cover major news stories, including natural disasters that have upended people's lives.
Previously, Ludden edited stories on climate and energy, working with NPR staffers and public radio reporters across the country. They tracked the shift to clean energy, and how people and communities are coping in a warming world. Before that, as an NPR correspondent, Ludden's various beats included changing family life and social trends, immigration, and U.S. national security after the 9/11 attacks.
Before moving to Washington D.C., Ludden reported for NPR while based in Canada, West Africa, Europe and the Middle East. She shared in two awards (Overseas Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists) for NPR's coverage of the Kosovo war in 1999, and won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for her coverage of the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Beyond conflicts, she reported on cultural trends, including the emergence of Persian pop music in Iran and the rise of a new form of urban polygamy in Africa.
Ludden's first public radio jobs were at member stations in Maine and Boston. She has midwestern roots, grew up in Tennessee, and graduated from Syracuse University. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
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The White House directive calls for prioritizing money for programs that require sobriety and treatment, and for cities that enforce homeless camping bans. -
Utah's leaders worry skyrocketing home prices are keeping young people from creating wealth. It's among a growing number of states — red and blue — passing laws to promote more affordable places. -
The Trump administration wants to allow a cutoff date for housing subsidies. The plan is deeply controversial, but Delaware offers a potential model for success. -
A housing agency rule would also allow work requirements. Supporters say a time limit would help spread limited funds to more people, but critics warn it would leave some homeless. -
The Vietnam veteran and former businessman got his diploma from South Carolina State University on Friday. He signed up for classes after hearing about the police killing of protesting students in 1968. -
Women can use a wand to collect a vaginal sample, then mail it to a lab that will screen for cervical cancer. The device will be available by prescription through a telehealth service. -
The Trump administration slashed funding for the national service agency and fired most of its staff. 32,000 people, mostly young adults, were forced to stop work immediately. -
The proposal would cut off rental subsidies after two years for able-bodied adults. Advocates warn if enacted, the White House plan would tip many low-income renters over the edge into homelessness. -
The federal housing agency says its 1968 building faces more than $500 million in deferred maintenance. It also says current staff take up only half the space. -
All staff were put on leave at the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Congress created the entity in 1987 and, among other things, it helped drive down veterans homelessness.
