Beenish Ahmed
Beenish Ahmed is one of Michigan Radio's Detroit-based reporters. Since 2016, she has been a reporter for WNYC Public Radio in New York and also a freelance journalist. Her stories have appeared on NPR, as well as in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, VICE and The Daily Beast. Additionally, Beenish spent two years in Islamabad, Pakistan, working with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, covering the country’s first democratic transition of power as well as Pakistan's education system.
Much of her reporting has focused on covering under-reported stories and adding nuance to major headlines. That included covering stories related to DACA and the #MeToo movement as well as reporting on the personal challenges Muslims in metro Detroit faced in taking a public stand against President Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban.”
She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. She was also a Spencer Fellow at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, and an NPR Kroc Fellow.
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Michigan sentenced over 360 minors to life without parole — more than any state except Pennsylvania. Half of them have now been released and 90% have been resentenced, in most cases to a finite length of time. -
People in Detroit jails are struggling to stay in touch with loved ones. The pandemic shut down in-person visits, and many find the cost of phone calls prohibitive.
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People in Detroit jails are struggling to stay in touch with loved ones. The pandemic shut down in-person visits and many are finding the cost of phone calls prohibitive.
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Interviews paint a picture of disarray and indifference during much of the pandemic – problems that appear to have improved in late 2021, once the county switched medical providers. Especially in the early days of the pandemic, fear moved from cell to cell. -
Former President Donald Trump targeted Michigan in his quest to undermine the vote post-election. As Trump's second impeachment trial wraps its first week, we check in with the state's residents.
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It's been seven weeks since the first COVID-19 vaccines were distributed in Michigan and, as of Monday, the state has now officially seen over one... -
Muslim commentator Beenish Ahmed says the election results "make official a nostalgia for a whiter America." -
A subway ride hammers home the reality that many Muslims face: While they fear being hurt by terrorists and vigilantes, others see them as a threat. -
Since she was a little girl, Beenish Ahmed has felt called on to represent all Muslims in an often Islamophobic country. But how? -
Post-traumatic stress disorder is best known for afflicting front-line soldiers in combat. But years of violence in northwestern Pakistan have made PTSD widespread among civilians in a poor and remote region where there are few options for treatment.
