Hubbry Logo
Alison StewartAlison StewartMain
Open search
Alison Stewart
Community hub
Alison Stewart
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Alison Stewart
Alison Stewart
Alison Stewart
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Alison Stewart (born July 4, 1966) is an American journalist and author. Stewart first gained widespread visibility as a political correspondent for MTV News in the 1990s. She is the host of WNYC's midday show, All of It with Alison Stewart.

Key Information

Early life and education

[edit]

Stewart was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. She is the daughter of the senior vice president for corporate affairs at Squibb Corporation, the pharmaceutical company in Princeton, New Jersey. Her mother taught biology at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey.[1] She attended Brown University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and American literature. She began her broadcasting career there, where she was the music director for the school's radio station, WBRU.[2]

Career

[edit]

20th century

[edit]

In 1988 Stewart began her career as an assistant at MTV. In 1991, she joined MTV News as a segment producer when she was hired by MTV News Director Linda Corradina. She began reporting and producing during MTV's first "Choose or Lose" campaign, which covered the 1992 presidential race. Her role in MTV's campaign coverage earned her a Peabody Award.

Stewart contributed segments to other MTV News shows in the 1990s, including Megadose (an alternative health program) and MTV News: Unfiltered. She also hosted specials including the Real World Reunion in 1995.

Following the 1996 "Choose or Lose" campaign, Stewart left MTV and moved to CBS News in December 1996. She reported for several of the network's news programs, including CBS News Sunday Morning, 48 Hours, and Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel.[3]

21st century

[edit]

Moving to ABC News, she co-anchored its early morning news program, World News Now with Anderson Cooper, and contributed reports to Good Morning America and 20/20 Downtown.[3] She earned an Emmy Award as part of ABC News's coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In 2003, Stewart moved from ABC News to MSNBC, where she was a daytime anchor and primary substitute host for Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show. She occasionally filled in as a newsreader on NBC's Weekend Today. From May 2006 to April 2007, she hosted a daytime news program on MSNBC, The Most with Alison Stewart.

Stewart joined NPR in May 2007 to host (along with Luke Burbank) a multiplatform morning drive show, The Bryant Park Project, which targeted an online audience of younger listeners and adults ages 25 to 44.[4] The program premiered October 1, 2007.[5] In July 2008, NPR canceled the program due to budget constraints. Stewart returned from maternity leave to host the show's last week, July 21 to 25, 2008.[6]

Stewart also served as a panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and as a fill-in host of NPR's Talk of the Nation and Weekend Edition.[3]

On May 7, 2010, she became the co-host of a new show, Need to Know, on PBS.[7] She left the show on September 9, 2011; in her departure announcement, she said she would be finishing a book she had "been working on for years."[8][9]

In late 2011, Stewart returned to CBS News to report a story on cheating on standardized college admissions tests for 60 Minutes that aired on January 1, 2012.[10] In 2012, she hosted the first season of the TED Radio Hour, a radio program (with podcast) produced by TED and NPR.[11]

In 2013, her book First Class, a history of Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.), was published.[12] It was named one of the best books of 2013 by Mother Jones and Essence magazines. Her second book, Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff, was published in April 2016.[13]

Stewart returned to PBS as a special correspondent in 2016 and served as a fill-in anchor for NewsHour Weekend and Charlie Rose.[14] She continues to contribute to PBS and is also a contributor at The Atlantic LIVE.

In September 2018, Stewart was added to the WNYC lineup hosting a midday show, All of It with Alison Stewart.[15][16][17] She also is the host of the book club live event series, Get Lit With All Of It.[18]

Works

[edit]
  • First Class. Chicago Review Press. August 2013. ISBN 978-1-61374-012-5. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  • Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair With Stuff. Chicago Review Press. April 2016. ISBN 978-1-61373-055-3.

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Alison Stewart

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Alison Stewart (born July 4, 1966) is an American journalist, author, and radio host recognized for her extensive career in broadcast news and cultural commentary. She began her professional journey after graduating from in 1988, joining as a producer and reporter for the influential "Choose or Lose" political coverage initiative targeting young voters, which earned a Peabody Award. Over the subsequent decades, Stewart contributed reporting to , ABC News, MSNBC, PBS NewsHour, and , including anchoring roles and hosting The Alison Stewart Show from 2007 to 2010. Currently, she hosts All of It with Alison Stewart on , a daily program featuring conversations on arts, culture, and New York life. Stewart has authored two notable books: Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff (2016), examining consumer behaviors, and First Class: The History of America's First Black Public High School (2020), chronicling the legacy of Philadelphia's . In February 2024, she underwent emergency brain surgery to address an infection impacting her language center but returned to broadcasting following recovery.

Early life and education

Childhood and family origins

Alison Stewart was born in , to Joseph T. Stewart Jr. and Carol Stewart. Her father served as senior vice president at Squibb, a pharmaceutical company, while her mother taught biology at Columbia High School in . Both parents were graduates of High School, the first public high school for in the United States. Stewart grew up in Glen Ridge, a New York City suburb, on a street that partially extended into neighboring Montclair. Her childhood involved playing with neighborhood children, predominantly from Black families, which contributed to a close-knit community environment. Her father's Harlem origins provided early exposure to New York City culture, including outings to Harlem Globetrotters games, Broadway shows, and the Museum of Natural History. Joseph Stewart, who held a Harvard MBA, exemplified upward mobility in his career trajectory. This upbringing combined suburban stability with urban vibrancy, which Stewart has characterized as "the best of both worlds."

Brown University and early interests

Alison Stewart enrolled at in 1984 following her high school graduation and earned a degree in English and in 1988. During her undergraduate years, she concentrated her studies in literary fields while immersing herself in campus media activities. Stewart's early interest in broadcasting emerged prominently through her involvement with WBRU, Brown's student-operated commercial FM radio station, recognized as one of the largest college radio outlets in the United States at the time. She served as for WBRU, where she curated programming and gained hands-on experience in radio production. Stewart later described falling in love with radio during this period, marking it as a pivotal influence on her career trajectory toward and media. This engagement with WBRU provided foundational skills in content selection and on-air work, bridging her academic pursuits in with practical media interests.

Professional career

Entry into media at MTV News

Alison Stewart entered the media industry shortly after graduating from in 1988, initially applying unsuccessfully to positions at outlets like magazine. In August 1988, she was hired by as an assistant, a role described as a paid that provided entry-level exposure to broadcast operations. This position marked her professional debut in journalism, leveraging her academic background in and interest in youth-oriented reporting. By 1991, Stewart had advanced within to become a segment producer for , contributing to on-air segments that aired five to seven times weekly. Her early work focused on political coverage, including the network's innovative "Choose or Lose" campaign aimed at engaging young voters during presidential elections. This initiative, for which she later received a Peabody Award as part of the production team, highlighted 's departure from entertainment-only content toward substantive news reporting. Stewart's progression from assistant to producer underscored the fast-paced, merit-based environment at during its expansion into credible journalism in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Network television roles at CBS and MSNBC

Stewart joined CBS News in December 1996 as a general assignment correspondent, reporting on a wide range of topics including civil rights issues. In 1998, she became a correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning, contributing segments to the program and other CBS broadcasts such as 48 Hours. Her work at CBS emphasized in-depth reporting on social and cultural stories, building on her earlier experience in youth-oriented journalism. In July 2003, Stewart transitioned to MSNBC as a daytime anchor and NBC News contributor, anchoring coverage of major events including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She frequently substituted as host for programs like Countdown with Keith Olbermann. From May 1, 2006, to April 2007, she hosted the afternoon news program The Most with Alison Stewart, which aired live at 3:00 p.m. ET and focused on top news stories of the day. The show concluded after nearly a year, coinciding with Stewart's move to public radio opportunities. During her MSNBC tenure, she was recognized for her versatile anchoring style, handling both breaking news and extended segments.

Radio hosting and NPR affiliation

Alison Stewart began her radio career in the , working as a and host at stations including WDRE in New York and WNEW, as well as contributing to the Radio Network. She joined in May 2007 as co-host of The Bryant Park Project, an experimental multi-platform morning news show aimed at younger, online-savvy audiences, alongside . The program, which aired from NPR studios in New York, emphasized interactive digital elements like blogs and podcasts, reflecting NPR's early push into web-based broadcasting. During her NPR tenure, which extended until November 2012, Stewart also hosted the inaugural season of TED Radio Hour in 2012, adapting TED Talks into hour-long radio explorations of ideas, and served as a substitute host for programs such as Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation. Her NPR roles built on her prior television experience, transitioning her into public radio's emphasis on in-depth, conversational journalism. In July 2018, Stewart transitioned to , New York Public Radio—an member station—as host of the new weekday afternoon program All of It with Alison Stewart, airing live from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET and focusing on New York City's cultural landscape through interviews with artists, authors, and community figures. The show, produced by Studios, incorporates segments like book clubs and live performances, and its podcast episodes have been distributed via platforms, maintaining her indirect affiliation with the network. As of 2025, All of It continues to broadcast daily, emphasizing unscripted dialogues on arts, media, and urban life.

Personal life

Family and New York residence

Stewart married television producer Bill Wolff on November 4, 2006, in a ceremony at Cipriani 23rd Street in , officiated by Episcopal priest Rev. Dr. Leslie C. Smith. The couple welcomed their first and only child, a son, in April 2008. Stewart and her family reside in a in . She has described acquiring their Chelsea apartment through persistent observation of the neighborhood's real estate market, reflecting her interest in vintage furniture and historic buildings. Additionally, the family owns a hand-built cabin in , constructed with Norwegian-inspired to evoke heritage, which Stewart uses as a retreat for reflection and inspiration.

Health challenges and 2024 medical event

In February 2024, Alison Stewart, host of WNYC's "All of It," suddenly lost the ability to form coherent sentences while preparing for a live broadcast, initially suspecting a stroke due to the rapid onset of aphasia affecting her speech and reading. Her physician, consulted via phone amid her garbled speech, directed her immediately to the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, where imaging revealed a brain abscess—an encapsulated infection—pressing on the language center in her left frontal lobe. On February 26, 2024, neurosurgeon Dr. Randy D'Amico performed an awake craniotomy to excise the , a procedure allowing real-time assessment of Stewart's speech functions to preserve her linguistic abilities while removing the mass without damaging surrounding tissue. The surgery successfully alleviated the pressure, with subsequent antibiotic treatment addressing the underlying infection, confirmed as non-cancerous through . Stewart took extended medical leave from her program, returning to air on July 1, 2024, where she openly discussed the episode's physical and emotional toll, including frustration from temporary cognitive disruptions and the challenges of adapting to postoperative recovery protocols. By mid-2025, she reported full restoration of her professional capabilities, crediting the awake surgery technique for minimizing long-term deficits, though she noted ongoing vigilance for infection recurrence. No prior major health challenges are documented in public records, positioning this 2024 event as her primary medical ordeal.

Recognition and public perception

Awards and professional honors

Stewart earned a George Foster Peabody Award as a producer and reporter for ' "Choose or Lose" political coverage of the 1992 presidential election, recognizing the innovative effort to engage young voters through youth-oriented . In 2025, she received a Gracie Award from the Alliance for for Interview Feature in the radio non-commercial local category, honoring her work as host of WNYC's All of It with Alison Stewart.

Critical reception and influence

Stewart's tenure as host of WNYC's All of It, which she assumed in following Michel Martin's departure, has elicited mixed but predominantly positive listener responses. Reviewers have commended her as a skilled interviewer capable of rendering diverse subjects compelling through thoughtful guest selection and engaging dialogue, with one assessment describing her as "erudite and curious" while integrating personal insights to foster intimacy. However, detractors have critiqued her attempts at empathy as occasionally insincere or superficial, potentially undermining guest interactions. Her earlier television contributions, particularly at from 1991 to 1996, garnered acclaim for innovative political coverage aimed at younger demographics, including the Peabody Award-winning "Choose or Lose" campaign series that boosted youth voter engagement during the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections. At PBS's (2010–2011), co-anchored with , observers noted her intelligence and earnestness in delivering substantive interviews with prominent figures, though the program faced broader network challenges unrelated to her performance. Stewart's influence lies in bridging youth-oriented media with serious , exemplified by 's precedent-setting election reporting that emphasized accessibility and relevance for non-traditional audiences, a model echoed in later digital and youth-focused news formats. Her career trajectory across , , MSNBC, and public radio has underscored adaptability in evolving media landscapes, contributing to discussions on cultural criticism and public discourse through platforms like All of It.

Notable works and contributions

Key journalistic productions

Alison Stewart's early breakthrough came with her work as a producer and reporter for MTV News' "Choose or Lose" campaign coverage of the 1992 presidential election, which earned a Peabody Award for its innovative engagement of young voters on political issues. This series featured on-the-ground reporting from campaign trails and conventions, emphasizing voter turnout among through music, celebrity interviews, and accessible analysis. At , Stewart contributed to major event coverage, including reports from the floor of six presidential conventions and on-the-scene journalism during in 2005 and the shootings in 2007. She later anchored programs at MSNBC and ABC News, focusing on breaking news and political analysis, and received an Emmy Award for her reporting. In public radio, Stewart served as the founding host of NPR's "The Project," a multiplatform morning news program launched in 2007 that integrated live blogging, podcasts, and on-air discussions to cover current events with a collaborative format involving multiple hosts. From 2013 onward, she has hosted "All of It with Alison Stewart" on , a daily live afternoon show examining New York City's cultural landscape through interviews with artists, authors, and innovators, including segments like the "Get Lit" book club. Stewart has also authored two nonfiction books drawing on investigative journalism. "First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School" (2013) chronicles the history of Washington D.C.'s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, from its founding in 1870 as the first public high school for Black students to its challenges and revival, informed by Stewart's personal family connection as the daughter of alumni. "Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff" (2019) details a three-year probe into U.S. consumerism, shadowing junk removal companies and analyzing hoarding behaviors and waste patterns. In 2010, she co-anchored PBS's "," a weekly public affairs series with that addressed underreported policy issues through in-depth segments and field reports.

Cultural and political reporting highlights

Stewart's early political reporting at centered on the "Choose or Lose" campaign during the 1992 presidential election, an initiative aimed at engaging young voters through innovative multimedia coverage that earned a Peabody Award for its team, including her contributions as producer and reporter. This effort extended to the 1996 election, where she continued producing segments to boost youth participation in the political process. At CBS News in the late , Stewart covered politically charged topics including clinic terrorism, documenting the violence and intimidation tactics employed against reproductive health providers amid heightened national debates over rights. Her reporting also encompassed related issues, such as the rights of the disabled, framing them within broader legislative and societal conflicts. Transitioning to cultural domains, Stewart has hosted WNYC's "All Of It with Alison Stewart" since 2014, a daily program featuring in-depth conversations on New York City's arts, , and dynamics, with segments like the "Get Lit" book club partnering with the to analyze contemporary works. Episodes have explored intersections of culture and politics, such as the historical and policy implications of medical procedures in discussions on , incorporating diverse perspectives from medical experts and affected individuals.

References

  1. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829158/
  2. https://www.alisonstewart.net/
  3. https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2021-03-29/radio-realness
  4. https://www.wnyc.org/people/alison-stewart/
  5. https://www.wnyc.org/story/alison-returns-and-discusses-emergency-medical-leave-managing-unexpected-situations-sebastian-jungers-near-death-experience-our-summer-reading-challenge/
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/fashion/weddings/05stewart.html
  7. https://njmonthly.com/articles/arts-entertainment/all-of-it-host-alison-stewart-has-bounced-back-from-brain-surgery/
  8. https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/stewart--alison-contributor-216248.php
  9. https://www.chronogram.com/arts/top-of-the-class-2214894/
  10. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/stewart-alison-1966
  11. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829158/bio/
  12. https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2011-03-16/making-a-better-her
  13. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/nyregion/alison-stewart-brain-surgery.html
  14. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alison-stewart/
  15. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3080452
  16. https://www.npr.org/sections/bryantpark/2007/04/post.html
  17. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12537219
  18. https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/msnbc-ends-the-most/
  19. https://nypublicradio.org/2018/07/23/2018-7-23-wnyc-names-alison-stewart-host-of-new-weekday-afternoon-program/
  20. https://www.wnycstudios.org/people/alison-stewart
  21. https://www.wnyc.org/shows/all-of-it/about
  22. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/648725774/all-of-it
  23. https://people.com/parents/alison-stewart-2/
  24. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/realestate/wnyc-alison-stewart-apartment.html
  25. https://hvmag.com/home-real-estate/this-hand-built-woodstock-house-has-norwegian-roots/
  26. https://www.chronogram.com/home/wync-radio-host-allison-stewart-finds-inspiration-in-her-woodstock-cabin-8261717/
  27. https://www.wnyc.org/story/alison-and-her-neurosurgeon-discuss-her-emergency-brain-surgery/
  28. http://www.thebrowngothamite.com/advice-for-my-daughter/alison-stewart
  29. https://nypublicradio.org/2025/03/25/wnycs-alison-stewart-and-sarah-qari-win-2025-gracie-awards/
  30. https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2025/03/25/g-s1-55678/npr-and-member-stations-win-2025-gracie-awards
  31. https://podbay.fm/p/all-of-it/reviews
  32. https://rephonic.com/podcasts/all-of-it
  33. https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/alison-stewart-and-jon-meacham-to-co-anchor-new-series-need-to-know-on-pbs/
  34. http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2010/05/another_opening_another_show_1.html
  35. https://www.wnyc.org/shows/all-of-it
  36. https://frugalbookstore.net/products/first-class
  37. https://www.amazon.com/Junk-Digging-Through-Americas-Affair/dp/1641600187
  38. https://www.wnyc.org/story/the-politics-of-hysterectomy/
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.