Annie Baxter

Former Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Annie Baxter is a former senior reporter for Marketplace. She covered a range of topics, with a focus on agriculture and food, from her perch in St. Paul, Minn., where Marketplace’s parent company is headquartered.

Annie has been making radio since 2000, when she pursued an internship at KQED in San Francisco. At the time, she was enrolled in a doctoral program focused on literature and philosophy at UC Berkeley. But she got hooked on radio and quickly ditched her plans to become an academic.

At Marketplace, Annie works hard to make radio stories that transport listeners somewhere new and that connect them with people they might not otherwise meet. She loves taking big business stories about things like GMOs or the Big Food industry and making them feel human scale.

Before joining Marketplace, Annie spent a decade covering business in Minnesota, where she chronicled people’s experiences of the economy, including couples forced into long-distance relationships due to scarce work and parents trying to explain their unemployment to their children. Her work has garnered dozens of awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards.

 

Latest Stories (338)

After G-20, U.S. isolated on trade and climate change

Jul 10, 2017
At the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany over the weekend, Japan and the European Union announced an agreement in principle for a new trade accord. And they touted free trade at a time when they see America shifting towards protectionism. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris climate agreement […]

Trump visits Poland before G-20 conference

Jul 5, 2017
President Trump leaves today for Poland. On Thursday, he’ll meet members of the Eastern European nation’s conservative government, which is hawkish on matters such as defense and immigration. The visit comes on the eve of a G-20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Uncertainty over U.S. trade policy frustrates allies

Jun 30, 2017
Do imports of foreign steel and aluminum compromise national security? President Trump told the Commerce Department to speed up its investigation of that question and come back with some answers today. It didn’t happen. Officials said that was due to “unanticipated complexities.” But China, the European Union and other steel-exporting nations, fearing the U.S. could  […]

This dairy farm's best worker is a robot

Jun 26, 2017
Facing labor shortages, some farms are increasingly using automation to get work done.
Dairy farmer Vickie Baker stands in the holding area in her barn, where cows wait to be milked by a robot. They go through the gate behind her to stand in a cow-sized chamber where the robot attaches milkers to them.
Annie Baxter/Marketplace

Where’d you get that beef? Rancher groups sue USDA over labels

Jun 23, 2017
Two industry groups that represent cattle ranchers have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They want the USDA to reinstate country-of-origin labeling for beef, because they say consumers want to purchase meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. For example, pieces of beef from Canada can come across the […]

In rural Iowa, President Trump plugs 'precision agriculture'

Jun 21, 2017
It’s “Technology Week” at the White House. So, naturally, President Trump is heading to farm country today. If that seems incongruous, you may not know there’s a lot of high-tech stuff going on in the growing field of “precision agriculture.” Farmers are using all sorts of technology to determine the most efficient growing practices, which […]

If nominated, the new chairman of bank overseer FDIC could support less regulation

Jun 20, 2017
The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which regulates many of the country’s smaller banks and oversees the “living wills” of larger banks, could soon have a new chairman. President Trump plans to tap long-time Republican congressional staffer James Clinger for the role, which would require congressional approval. What could change at the FDIC under […]

Somali refugees seek integration into rural Minnesota

Jun 19, 2017
Groups in and around the St. Cloud area are teaching locals about some of their newer neighbors.
Somali-born author, college instructor and business consultant Hudda Ibrahim addresses a class on "Somali Lives and Culture" at the College of Saint Benedict, near St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Annie Baxter/Marketplace

The city of Flint is broke, but its water system still needs expensive repairs

Jun 14, 2017
A half-dozen Michigan state officials now face criminal charges for their role in the Flint water crisis. The state cut subsidies for Flint water in March, leaving residents to pay for their water at one of the highest rates in the country. Though the city’s water now meets federal quality standards for lead and copper, […]

German grocers Aldi and Lidl are bringing more discount food to the U.S. market

Jun 12, 2017
Two German grocery giants are casting a big shadow in the U.S. Aldi, which has operated here since the late 1970s, says it wants to add about 800 stores to the 1,700 it operates today. Meanwhile, Lidl, another German chain, will open the first of its planned U.S. stores later this week on the East […]