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

July 29, 2016Development

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.

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

April 21, 2015Economics

Shyima Hall at her home in Banning, California

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

January 31, 2014Conflict & Justice

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?

November 12, 2013Lifestyle & Belief

Syrian Refugees Fleeing Violence, Find Home at Restaurant in Cairo

August 14, 2013Business, Economics and Jobs

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

August 14, 2013Arts, Culture & Media

‘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.

Villa Aurora: House of Creativity and Refuge in Los Angeles

August 14, 2013Arts, Culture & Media

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.

In Cairo, Cars Speak

August 14, 2013The World in Words

Learn Egyptian car horn code for expressions like ‘Open your eyes!’ ‘You are no driver!’ and, of course, ‘I love you.’

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

August 14, 2013Arts, Culture & Media

“Bekya! Bekya!” is the call of the Egyptian junk collectors and the cries reveal a lot about Egypt’s economy.

Indonesians Call for Rights in Egypt

August 14, 2013Conflict & Justice

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.