Minnesota Public Radio's Broadcast Journalist Series welcomes NPR reporter Martin Kaste to Macalester College on Wednesday, October 24.

Kaste will give a speech entitled "Luckless Argentines and their American Cousins," which compares his five years reporting in South America to his new assignment in the Pacific Northwest. Kaste will take audience questions following his talk.

WHAT: Minnesota Public Radio's Broadcast Journalist Series welcomes NPR reporter Martin Kaste for a speech entitled "Luckless Argentines and their American Cousins," which compares his five years reporting in South America to his new assignment in the Pacific Northwest. Many of Kaste's assumptions about the political and economic differences between South America and the United States have been tested in the wake of corruption scandals in Washington, D.C., and turmoil in the U.S. economy.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 24, 7–8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Alexander G. Hill Ballroom, Kagin Commons, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Ave, St. Paul

TICKETS: FREE, but tickets are required. Tickets can be found at all four Twin Cities Bibelot Shops locations beginning October 12

TUNE IN: The event will be recorded for broadcast (broadcast date TBA).

MEDIA: Print, broadcast and internet journalists are welcome to attend. Please contact Jennifer Haugh at (651) 290-1369 or jhaugh@mpr.org for accommodations, including a media mult box.

About Martin Kaste
In January 2005, Martin Kaste moved from the Foreign Desk to the National Desk—and from Rio to Seattle. Before the move, Martin established NPR's South American bureau, traveling the continent covering the politics, economy and culture there for five years.

As NPR's Pacific Northwest reporter, Kaste roams Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and sometimes western Canada. He's focused on the security of the northern border, drug-smuggling, nuclear waste disposal, and western politics. He also goes farther afield, geographically speaking, including repeated trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Recently he's been following the legal fallout from the NSA wiretapping program, and the biofuels boom. Kaste's reports and features can be heard on all of NPR's news programs and newscasts.

During his five years as South America reporter, Kaste covered the drug wars in Colombia, the financial meltdown in Argentina, the rise of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and the fall of Haiti's President Jean Bertrand Aristide. All told, Kaste covered the overthrow of five presidents in five years.

Kaste joined NPR full-time in February 2000, after working in St. Paul as a political reporter for Minnesota Public Radio, which he joined in 1993.

Kaste received his bachelor's degree in English from Carleton College. He is married to former MPR reporter Amy Radil. They're the proud parents of Grace, a Rio de Janeiro native.

About MPR's Broadcast Journalist Series
Minnesota Public Radio's Broadcast Journalist Series, now in its 12th season, commissions journalists and correspondents for a 24-hour residency four times a year. While here, they share their insights on their craft as well as on people and events that affect them professionally. Past journalists include Barbara Ehrenreich, Columnist Thomas Friedman, and NPR's Deborah Amos, Alex Chadwick, and Don Gonyea.

Minnesota Public Radio's Broadcast Journalist Series is sponsored by Macalester College, The Bibelot Shops and Dorsey & Whitney.

Minnesota Public Radio® operates a 37-station radio network serving virtually all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states and produces programming for radio, Internet and face-to-face audiences. Programs produced by Minnesota Public Radio, operating as American Public Media,™ reach 15 million listeners nationwide each week. Of those, more than 800,000 listen regionally, in Minnesota and surrounding states. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be obtained at www.mpr.org and www.americanpublicmedia.org.

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Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc., Nationwide and PSA data. Arbitron data are estimates only. Spring 2006/Fall 2006 average