Sonari Glinton
Sonari Glinton is a NPR Business Desk Correspondent based at our NPR West bureau. He covers the auto industry, consumer goods, and consumer behavior, as well as marketing and advertising for NPR and Planet Money.
In this position, which he has held since late 2010, Glinton has tackled big stories including GM's road back to profitability and Toyota's continuing struggles. In addition, Glinton covered the 2012 presidential race, the Winter Olympics in Sochi, as well as the U.S. Senate and House for NPR.
Glinton came to NPR in August 2007 and worked as a producer for All Things Considered. Over the years Glinton has produced dozen of segments about the great American Song Book and pop culture for NPR's signature programs most notably the 50 Great Voices piece on Nat King Cole feature he produced for Robert Siegel.
Glinton began his public radio career as an intern at Member station WBEZ in Chicago. He worked his way through his public radio internships working for Chicago Jazz impresario Joe Segal, waiting tables and meeting legends such as Ray Brown, Oscar Brown Jr., Marian MacPartland, Ed Thigpen, Ernestine Andersen, and Betty Carter.
Glinton attended Boston University. A Sinatra fan since his mid-teens, Glinton's first forays into journalism were album revues and a college jazz show at Boston University's WTBU. In his spare time Glinton indulges his passions for baking, vinyl albums, and the evolution of the Billboard charts.
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Many Federal government websites are dark because of the shutdown. But not operating the sites could come at a cost.
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The electric car company saw its stock fall this week after a video of its Model S ablaze went viral. But car analysts say the new car on the block should expect to get extra scrutiny. Consumers are watching closely to see if Tesla really is the wave of the future. -
JPMorgan Chase revealed last year that some traders in London concealed losing $6 billion. The company has agreed to pay $900 million in fines, but federal regulators also forced the bank to admit to wrongdoing. One analyst says admitting mistakes tarnishes your reputation.
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The average car on the road these days is more than 11 years old — a historic high. Some analysts say that means there soon will be a surge in car buying. Others are skeptical.
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When you're a teenager, there are many things you desperately want to find: friends, fun, a future, freedom. In American Graffiti,the iconic movie about teenagers set in 1962, the kids find all of that just by getting in their cars. But today, teens say they don't see cars the same way. -
General Motors set a July sales record in China. That country is already the most important auto market in the world. It could be where GM maintains global dominance.
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Ford is taking a big step into the alternative fuel world with an F-150 pickup truck that can run on natural gas. If it succeeds, the move could have repercussions for the broader auto industry. -
Throughout Detroit's long decline, city planners and ordinary people have launched countless plans to revive the city — casinos, downtown development, urban farms, artist hubs. One city neighborhood is thinking small, and it's starting to pay off big. -
The domestic auto industry has been making a strong comeback, but that recovery hasn't necessarily benefited beleaguered Detroit. There's only one auto plant still doing high-volume production inside the city limits, and much of the Big Three's manufacturing has shifted away from Michigan. -
Profits for the nation's carmakers are on the rise, but after years of doing more with less, higher profits are unlikely to translate into significant numbers of new jobs. There are eight fewer plants and hundreds of thousands fewer workers in the industry than before the Great Recession.
