Julia Simon

Julia Simon is a radio journalist from California who has worked for APM’s Marketplace, PRI’s The World, NPR News, and BBC News.

I'm a radio journalist from California.

I have worked for APM’s Marketplace, PRI’s The World, NPR News, and BBC News.

I spent two years  reporting in Egypt – one year before the revolution, one year after. I've also reported from Tunisia and Kenya. In 2010-2011 I was a Henry Luce Scholar based in Indonesia where I was an editor, producer and guest host of a weekly radio news show called "Asia Calling".

I recently received a Fulbright Research Grant to study the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

I speak Egyptian Arabic, Indonesian, and Spanish. I'm working on my French and Swahili.

I love economics, soccer, hiking, and old Hollywood detective movies.

In a market in Abuja, a vendor named Abba shows me a puny tomato that was selling for 10 times the usual price. Some Nigerians have been calling tomatoes “Buhari’s gold,” after the president.

How a tomato shortage has Nigerians questioning their reliance on oil

Tomatoes are a prized staple in Nigeria, but there's a severe shortage and prices are soaring. At first, many people has conspiracy theories about what caused the shortage.

How a tomato shortage has Nigerians questioning their reliance on oil
Folorunsho Alakija

Sorry, Oprah. You're not No. 1 anymore.

Sorry, Oprah. You're not No. 1 anymore.
Shyima Hall at her home in Banning, California

A 10-year-old Egyptian girl was taken to California — and lived as a slave

A 10-year-old Egyptian girl was taken to California — and lived as a slave
Julia Simon imagines what's going through the mind of a man harassing her on the street in Cairo.

So, how long have you been harassing women like this?

So, how long have you been harassing women like this?
The World

Syrian Refugees Fleeing Violence, Find Home at Restaurant in Cairo

Syrian Refugees Fleeing Violence, Find Home at Restaurant in Cairo

'Oma and Bella': Two Holocaust Survivors that Preserve Memories in their Berlin Kitchen

'Oma and Bella' is a documentary about two Jewish women in their 80s living in Berlin. Reporter Julia Simon talks to the filmmaker, who is the grand daughter of one of the women.

'Oma and Bella': Two Holocaust Survivors that Preserve Memories in their Berlin Kitchen
The World

Villa Aurora: House of Creativity and Refuge in Los Angeles

Villa Aurora in the Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles was a refuge for writer Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta after they fled the Nazis. Now, as Julia Simon reports, it provides a temporary home for other persecuted writers from around the world.

Villa Aurora: House of Creativity and Refuge in Los Angeles
The World

In Cairo, Cars Speak

In Cairo, Cars Speak
The World

The Cry of Egypt's Junk Collectors Reveals A Lot About Country

"Bekya! Bekya!" is the call of the Egyptian junk collectors and the cries reveal a lot about Egypt's economy.

The Cry of Egypt's Junk Collectors Reveals A Lot About Country

Indonesians Call for Rights in Egypt

Egyptians are not the only ones demanding human rights in a new Egypt. Another group is also seeking protective rights in Egypt - foreign domestic workers.

Indonesians Call for Rights in Egypt
The World

Indonesia Offers A Lesson For Egypt

Egypt could get some guidance from Indonesia where a revolution cut short the military rule and produced a fledgling democracy.

Indonesia Offers A Lesson For Egypt

Slideshow: How the Nubians View Egypt's Elections

Julia Simon reports on how the Nubians, one of Egypt's overlooked minority groups, are viewing elections there.

Slideshow: How the Nubians View Egypt's Elections
The World

A Dish Called Koshary

This northern African country is home to an online satirical newspaper named after the national dish.

A Dish Called Koshary
The World

Indonesia's movie crisis

In a tax dispute with Indonesia's government, Hollywood studios have stopped sending movies there.

Indonesia's movie crisis
The World

Lessons from Indonesia's popular uprising

A pro-democracy uprising in a Muslim country with the aim to unseat a dictator in power for nearly three decades: No, it's not Egypt 2011, it's Indonesia 1998. Julia Simon spoke with one leader of Indonesia's 1998 reform movement about parallels he

Lessons from Indonesia's popular uprising