Stephanie Hughes

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Stephanie Hughes is a senior reporter at Marketplace. She’s focused on education and the economy, and lives in Brooklyn.

She's reported on topics including the effectiveness of technology used by schools to prevent violence, startups that translate global climate data for homebuyers, and why theater majors are getting jobs writing for chatbots.

Previously, she worked as a producer for Bloomberg, where she covered finance, technology, and economics. Before that, she worked as the senior producer for “Maryland Morning,” broadcast on WYPR, the NPR affiliate in Baltimore. She’s also reported for other media outlets, including NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “The Takeaway,” and Salon.

At WYPR, she helped produce the year-long, multi-platform series “The Lines Between Us,” which won a 2014 duPont-Columbia Award. She’s also interested in using crowdsourcing to create online projects, such as this interactive map of flags around Maryland, made from listener contributions.

A native of southern Delaware, Stephanie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in communications, studying at the Annenberg School. Before she found her way to radio, she worked in the children’s division of the publishing house Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Latest Stories (476)

Aboard stranded cargo ships in Baltimore's port, a fight against "tedium"

Apr 5, 2024
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse left eight cargo ships and crews stranded indefinitely. The port’s chaplain is offering chocolate, wi-fi hotspots, and rides to the shopping mall.
Watakee Kasakun stands on the deck of the Phatra Naree, a cargo ship from Thailand, with the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge behind him. He and the rest of the crew are now stuck in the Port of Baltimore indefinitely.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

For thousands of workers who rely on Baltimore's port, work has slowed or stopped

Apr 3, 2024
That includes longshoremen who unload container ships, warehouse workers who store the goods and restaurant servers who feed them all.
Workers use an overhead crane to move a reel of telecommunications wire at the Trans American Trucking & Warehouse facility near the port.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

What is a SPAC, and why do companies use them?

Mar 25, 2024
SPAC stands for special purpose acquisition company. It's how the parent company of Donald Trump's Truth Social platform is planning to go public.
Trump Media & Technology Group could start trading on the market as early as today thanks to an assist from a SPAC.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Biden cancels $5.8 billion in student debt for public service workers

Mar 22, 2024
The federal government is trying to make sure eligible borrowers are able to get credit for payments made under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, eligible borrowers like teachers make student debt payments for a certain number of years and the rest should be forgiven. That hasn't always happened though.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Think of your electronic waste as a mine of resources

Mar 20, 2024
E-waste is filled with old parts and precious metals that could be worth a lot to the right people.
About half of states have take-back laws that require device makers to accept old versions for recycling.
Cesar Manso/AFP via Getty Images

Demand for ice cream is cooling. How can the industry adapt?

Mar 20, 2024
Americans aren't eating as much ice cream as they used to. Producers are leaning into health and regional trends to make up lost ground.
Unilever announced this week that it's spinning off its ice cream business, which includes brands like Ben & Jerry's.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Why Sports Illustrated's buyer is keeping the print magazine around

Mar 19, 2024
Sports Illustrated has a new publisher who says it will keep producing the magazine's print editions. That could benefit the brand.
By keeping the print magazine version of Sports Illustrated around, "you're maintaining the value of that brand," said the University of San Francisco's Nola Agha.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The cost of tax season is getting higher

Mar 15, 2024
Tax preparation costs are sharply higher this year as the demand for preparers has risen. Software prices have also increased.
A shortage of accountants means that tax preparers still doing the job can charge more, especially at the height of tax season.
agshotime/Getty Images

Apparel prices haven't budged in past year

Mar 12, 2024
Leaner inventories and lower demand are both likely factors.
The store June Ruby in Aurora, Colorado, sells women's clothing and accessories. Thrifty consumers and effective inventory management have contributed to stable prices in the apparel industry.
Courtesy Michelle Rotter
Reddit will reserve about 8% of the shares it’ll be selling for users and moderators, alongside some board members and friends and family of employees.
Mario Tama/Getty Images