Anne Marler 10/30/24 Anne Marler 10/30/24

Valerie’s Piece #5: Central Asia’s Ticking Time Bomb

A giant body of water has nearly disappeared over the last 60 years. Along with photographer Claire Harbage, a genius NPR visuals team and additional field production on-site, Valerie takes us on an immersive journey back to the past to understand the present — and look toward the future.

Anne Marler 10/29/24 Anne Marler 10/29/24

Valerie’s Piece #4: Taliban Canal Threatens Beleaguered Water Supply

The Amu Darya river is a lifeline for the farmers in Uzbekistan — but construction on the Qosh Tepa Canal, the Taliban's landmark construction project, which will soon begin to siphon water from this critical resource.

Anne Marler 10/28/24 Anne Marler 10/28/24

Valerie’s Piece #3: A Precarious Industry

Valerie reports for All Things Considered from the fishing village of Tastubek, where “the river levels are so low that small islands of sand appear in the middle.”

Anne Marler 10/26/24 Anne Marler 10/26/24

Valerie’s Piece #2: Graveyard of Ships

Valerie reports from the once-busy port town of Moynaq, at one point home to more than 40,000 people, now known as “the graveyard of ships.”

Anne Marler 9/22/24 Anne Marler 9/22/24

Valerie’s Piece #1: When Water Turns to Sand

Valerie’s first story aired as part of The Sunday Story series on Up First. She takes us to Central Asia to investigate why the Aral Sea has all but disappeared.

Anne Marler 11/21/23 Anne Marler 11/21/23

Valerie Kipnis is our 2023-2024 Above the Fray Fellow

Selected from a competitive pool of applicants, our 2023-2034 Above the Fray fellow is Valerie Kipnis. She will travel to the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan — located in northwestern Uzbekistan — to report on the human impacts of a human-caused ecological crisis: the disappearance of the Aral Sea.