‘What binds us together’: Sara Miller Llana on the generosity of sources (audio)

I’ve worked with Sara Miller Llana for many years now, and it’s been a happy study in the kaleidoscope of qualities that make a great journalist. Curiosity, for sure. An eye for a good story. Energy, because the news stops for no one. And persistence – sometimes with a smile, sometimes leaning in on the grit.

But with Sara, there’s more: compassion and an unshakable commitment to listening to and understanding her sources. It’s something that radiates out from the stories she’s reported from three international posts.

When you listen to our conversation, as I hope you will, you’ll hear her appreciation for the people she interviews, her love for getting to know what matters to them, and her effort to convey that to you, her readers. She has boundless enthusiasm for diving into new subjects and tracking the shifts in more familiar ones. In the end, whether she’s writing about transracial adoptees or Canada’s “lobster wars,” it’s all about looking deeper, and with deep heart. 

“Rethinking the News” is a podcast that aims to make room for constructive conversations across a range of perspectives, and bring Monitor journalism straight to your ears.