Maddie Bender
Producer, The ConversationMaddie Bender is a science, health, and technology journalist. She has contributed print, digital, and audio stories to outlets including The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Scientific American, Smithsonian and VICE.
She provided production assistance on This Is Our Hawaiʻi, HPR's first narrative podcast, and joined The Conversation as a producer in 2024.
She holds a master's degree in epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health. When not editing out "uhs" and "ums" in interviews, you can find her baking sourdough and teaching group fitness classes.
Contact her at mbender@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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It's National Pickleball Month, so we're revisiting our recent interviews about the fastest-growing sport in the country and across the state. -
A new study found these endemic Hawaiian spiders use chemicals to seek out potential partners and recognize their own species. UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Ashley Adams led that skin-crawling research on the Hawaiian Tetragnatha spider. -
Is an estate tax break critical for local family businesses or a loophole for the rich?; Lawmakers weigh the creation of a wildfire fund; Learn how a Hawaiian spider species communicates -
Gov. Josh Green marked Earth Day on Monday by naming two University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa scientists to key environmental positions in his administration. The pair recently published a paper titled “Earth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just and sustainable future." -
University of Hawaiʻi professors release new paper detailing the ties between imperialism and climate change; Two filmmakers receive close to $1 million to document queer histories in Hawaiʻi -
Despite sizable public opposition, lawmakers are racing to finalize a bill that could pass the costs of the Maui wildfires onto ratepayers. HPR's Maddie Bender and Savannah Harriman-Pote explain what that means for Hawaiian Electric and its customers. -
Hawaiian Electric could face close to $5 billion in potential liabilities from the lawsuits filed over the Maui wildfires, according to the consulting firm Capstone. The Conversation talked to Capstone analysts Alyssa Lu and Josh Price as state lawmakers prepare to decide on legislation that could impact HECO's bottom line. -
Experts discuss HECO's liability for the Maui wildfires; The state gets new self-driving vehicles and a Tesla fleet; Teen perspectives on the hazards of drunk-driving -
The state Department of Health is investigating two confirmed cases and eight probable cases of pertussis, better known as whooping cough, on Hawaiʻi Island. The Conversation’s Maddie Bender spoke to Deputy State Epidemiologist Nathan Tan this morning to learn more about the cases. -
Health officials are investigating two confirmed cases — and eight probable cases — of whooping cough on Hawaiʻi Island; The 1898 Project holds a summit on American imperialism
