Consider This from NPR
Episode: What it takes to report stories from the war in the Middle East
Date: May 2, 2026
Host: Emily Fang
Guests: Duri Buskaren (reporting from the Turkish-Iranian border) & Kat Lansdorf (covering southern Lebanon)
Episode Overview
This episode explores the extraordinary efforts and challenges faced by NPR journalists as they report on the war in the Middle East. Host Emily Fang interviews reporters Kat Lansdorf and Duri Buskaren about their experiences gathering stories from southern Lebanon and near the Iranian border, the logistical and emotional hurdles they navigate, and the critical teamwork behind the scenes that makes such coverage possible.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Complex Logistics & Safety Concerns in War Reporting
2. Reporting from Hostile Environments: The Case of Iran
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Duri Buskaren recounts her efforts to interview Iranians near the Turkey-Iran border, emphasizing the fear people feel due to threats of espionage charges (04:08).
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They used creative and sometimes unorthodox methods to reach sources, including blending into crowds and, notably, using a dating app to establish initial contact with Persian speakers for private, safe interviews.
Quote:
“People who are in contact with foreign media in Iran right now are being hit with espionage charges. It's technically illegal to speak to foreign media if you're in Iran.” — Duri Buskaren (04:08)
Quote (re: dating app):
“We basically tried to match with every Persian speaker in our area... Some of our best interviews with people that we met that way.” — Duri Buskaren (05:13)
Ethics & Transparency:
“Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's no way to not do that.” — Duri Buskaren confirming she was always upfront about her identity as a journalist (06:17)
3. The Emotional Toll of War Reporting
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The hosts discuss the emotional impact of witnessing devastation and suffering, with Kat Lansdorf sharing how she copes by delaying her personal emotions until after interviews are conducted.
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She recounts frequent exposure to trauma, including witnessing the recovery of bodies from rubble.
Quote:
“It's their time. To have emotions and feelings is kind of how I look at it. My time to... have the feelings about it is... after I've written the story or when I'm back in my hotel room... Sometimes that's crying, quite honestly.” — Kat Lansdorf (06:43)
Duri Buskaren adds:
“I try to think about the fact that if I wasn’t there, if I wasn’t aware of it, it would still be happening... Journalism can really help people find agency and have their needs and their experiences heard and validated.” — Duri Buskaren (07:40)
4. The Invisible Teamwork Behind the Scenes
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Both journalists stress how reporting from conflict zones relies on a vast, often invisible network of producers, translators, guides, drivers, and security personnel—most of whom are local and sometimes themselves at risk.
Quote:
“It's not at all just me out here with a recorder wandering around. There's a huge team effort behind it.” — Kat Lansdorf (08:36)
Duri Buskaren underscores the personal risks some team members take:
“Some of our colleagues cannot be named on air for their safety. They're at a disproportionate risk... And we would not be able to report these stories without their work and without the risks that they take.” (09:32)
Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)
- “We are also coordinating with the UN Peacekeepers here, who then will talk to the Israeli military for us to say, hey, there's a group of American journalists ... asking them basically if it's safe.” — Kat Lansdorf (03:00)
- “It was incredibly risky for us to actually approach people. ... Undercover officers from Iran had actually approached them later asking about us. ... That was the signal ... we were putting people at risk.” — Duri Buskaren (04:29)
- “We tried to match with every Persian speaker in our area... actually, people were pretty cool, and we had some of our best interviews.” — Duri Buskaren (05:13)
- “The number of times just in this trip here to Lebanon that I’ve watched pieces of bodies pulled out of the rubble ... it’s more than I can count on one hand at this point. And that starts to take a toll after a while. It's hard.” — Kat Lansdorf (06:43)
- “Some of our colleagues cannot be named on air for their safety. ... They are the backbone of the work we do out here.” — Duri Buskaren (09:32)
Collaborative Journalism: Infrastructure & Support
- The discussion highlights NPR’s unique infrastructure across multiple countries (Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel) and the reliance on local expertise.
- Kat Lansdorf describes the group chat among NPR’s Middle East reporting team, emphasizing real-time collaboration and information sharing (08:36).
Conclusion
This episode provides a powerful look into the realities of reporting on conflict: the security challenges, ethical dilemmas, emotional strain, and the vital—but often invisible—support network that makes independent coverage possible. For listeners, it offers transparency into the front-line mechanics and humanity required to bring global news home.
Guests:
- Kat Lansdorf (Reporting from Southern Lebanon)
- Duri Buskaren (Reporting from Turkish-Iranian border)
Host:
Produced by: Gabriel Sanchez
Edited by: Adam Rainey
Executive Producer: Sammy Yenigun
Key Segments
- Logistics of accessing conflict zones: 03:00–03:56
- The risks and ethics of sourcing in Iran: 04:08–06:17
- Coping with trauma as a reporter: 06:43–07:40
- The teamwork behind NPR's reporting: 08:01–09:32
(Commercials, intro, and closing credits have been omitted.)