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Sean Carberry

Sean Carberry is NPR's international correspondent based in Kabul. His work can be heard on all of NPR's award-winning programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

Prior to moving into his current role, he was responsible for producing for NPR's foreign correspondents in the Middle East and "fill-in" reporting. Carberry travels extensively across the Middle East to cover a range of stories such as the impact of electricity shortages on the economy in Afghanistan and the experiences of Syrian refugees in Turkish camps.

Carberry has reported from more than two-dozen countries including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, and Iceland. In 2010, Carberry won the Gabriel Award Certificate of Merit for America Abroad's "The First Freedom," and in 2011 was awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Award as lead producer and correspondent for America Abroad's series, "The Arab World's Demographic Dilemma."

Since joining NPR, Carberry worked with Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Tripoli for NPR's coverage of the fall of the Libyan capital. He also covered the post-US withdrawal political crisis in Baghdad in December 2011, and recently completed a two month fill-in reporting assignment in Kabul that led to his current role.

Before coming to NPR in 2011, Carberry worked at America Abroad Media where he served as technical director and senior producer in addition to traveling internationally to report and produce radio and multimedia content for America Abroad's monthly radio news documentaries and website. He also worked at NPR Member Station WBUR in Boston as a field and political producer, associate producer/technical director, and reporter, contributing to NPR, newscasts, and WBUR's Here and Now.

In addition to his journalistic accolades, Carberry is a well-rounded individual who has also been an assistant professor of music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, received a Gold Record as Recording Engineer for Susan Tedeschi's Grammy-Nominated album "Just Won't Burn," engineered music for the television program "Sex in the City," is a certified SCUBA diver, and is a graduate of the Skip Barber School of Auto Racing.

Carberry earned a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Lehigh University and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, with a focus in Politics, National Security, and International Affairs.

  • The U.S. military has long conducted anti-insurgent information campaigns in Afghanistan. But as the U.S. prepares to withdraw combat troops, it's now mentoring the Afghan Army in how to get out its message, particularly through local radio. But it's difficult to tell how it is being received.
  • Buzkashi Boys, a coming-of-age tale about two boys, captures Kabul's bustle and bleakness. It received a standing ovation at its recent premiere in the Afghan capital. The film doesn't have a Hollywood ending. Its director, Sam French, says he wanted the story to speak to the Afghan experience.
  • Women in Afghanistan are, in general, better off today than when the Taliban ruled. But activists say there has been backsliding on the gains of the past decade. And as the international community plans its drawdown, activists worry that the government won't do its part to protect women.
  • This Fourth of July is a special one for 44 soldiers and Marines serving in Afghanistan. They hail from 24 different countries and range in age from 19 to 34. But they have one thing in common: They were naturalized as U.S. citizens in a ceremony last week.