NEW YORK — Rose Friedman, an NPR editor and reporter who helped shape the network’s arts and cultural coverage for about 15 years, died of cancer at her home in New York City on September 17, 2026. She was 38. NPR confirmed her death in a remembrance published September 18.
Friedman joined NPR in 2010 as an editorial assistant at NPR Books while in her early 20s. She later became an editor and reporter on the Society & Culture desk, where her work covered books, arts, culture and major national stories.
Career at NPR
Friedman was a co-creator of Books We Love, NPR’s annual reading guide that grew from the Book Concierge. The project brings together recommendations from NPR staff and trusted critics. NPR’s current Books We Love credits Friedman among the editors and producers who helped develop the guide.
She also worked on NPR’s coverage of major cultural and social stories, including the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault trial and the #MeToo movement. More recently, she helped lead the network’s America 250 coverage.
Remembered by colleagues
Friedman also served as a SAG-AFTRA shop steward representing NPR’s editorial workers. NPR reported that she wanted her union work highlighted in her obituary and identified helping secure expanded paid parental leave at NPR as her proudest achievement.
Colleagues and writers who worked with Friedman remembered her for her knowledge of books, editorial skill and kindness. Novelist Meg Wolitzer described her as a gifted and deeply kind person in comments published by NPR.
Friedman is survived by her partner, Andrew Anastasi, their two daughters, her parents, Carolyn and Jerry Friedman, and her sisters, Sophie and Nina.
Rose Friedman should not be confused with Rose Director Friedman, the economist and wife of Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, who died in 2009 at age 98. The two women were unrelated and had different careers.