Marco Werman is an American radio personality. He is a host, reporter and senior producer in public radio. Werman is the host of Public Radio Exchange's The World. He took over as full-time host of the program on January 1, 2013 after years as fill-in host and producer of the Global Hit music segment.[1] His journalism experience includes documentary photography, print, radio and television.
Biography
Werman is the son of Marjolijn (née deJager)[2] and David S. Werman.[3] His mother was of Dutch descent and his father was Jewish.[2][4] His mother converted to Judaism and he states he was raised in Jewish culture but not religious.[4] Werman has been working in journalism since he was 16 when he worked as a copy boy at the News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina.[5] He graduated from Duke University in 1983.[6] After graduation, he joined the Peace Corps where he served in Togo and Burkina Faso for three years.[6] While in Burkina Faso, he started freelancing for the BBC World Service[7] and later moved to London where he produced the BBC program, Network Africa.[5] "Radio impressed me in Africa," says Werman. "Everyone had one, broadcasts happened in many languages, and in the two coups I witnessed, the radio station was important booty: it and the electrical generator were always the first targets."[5]
In 1990, he moved back to the United States and started a new public radio station, WCFE-FM, in Plattsburgh, New York,[8] where he hosted a daily two-hour news and public affairs show for four years.[5] In 1994, he moved to Rome, Italy where he was the correspondent for Monitor Radio.[5] In 1995, he was invited to assist in creating the format for The World, where he has worked since.[5] In 1997, he began producing the Global Hit segment, in which musicians and global musical trends are linked and used as a lens to understand the news.[5] This segment has also become a popular podcast as part of the PRI News podcasts.
In 2006, Werman travelled to Libya, soon after Muammar al-Gaddafi renounced weapons of mass destruction, to film a documentary about the total solar eclipse that brought thousands of tourists to Libya.[8] In 2007, he won an Emmy for his story "Libya: Out of the Shadow" on the PBS program Frontline/World.[5]
Werman is also the host and a reporter for a music series for PBS called "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," which he co-created with PBS producer Stephen Talbot.[5] The pilot aired in 2010. A new episode was broadcast on PBS in October 2012. He is also a presenter and interviewer for the PBS Arts online series, "Sound Tracks presents Quick Hits" where he has interviewed Jovanotti, Seu Jorge, Charles Bradley, Milos Karadaglic and Levon Helm.[9]
Werman also was a host of BBC World Service "Boston Calling", which explored how the world looks through American eyes, and the myriad and unexpected ways that the world influences the United States.[10] The last episode aired on 27 June 2020.[11]
Personal life
Werman is married to Schuyler Engel.[3] He is a lifelong surfer.[12]
^ abWerman, Marco (August 4, 2015). "The Bomb saved my mom". The World. My mother, Marjolijn deJager, was born to a colonial Dutch family in the East Indies.
^ ab"Interview With Marco Werman: In The Mix". PBS Frontline. May 2003. Well, I'm really not observant -- my mother converted to Judaism before I was born, and my father was born Jewish but not religious. I was brought up in Jewish culture, but never had a bar mitzvah
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