Malika Bilal is an award-winning international news journalist, writer and podcast host who splits her time between Los Angeles, CA and Washington, DC. For nearly two decades, she has anchored breaking news, moderated global conversations, and produced stories that amplify underrepresented voices across television, digital, and print.

She currently hosts The Take, a daily news video podcast, where her intimate interviews with newsmakers around the world have been streamed millions of times, and have twice earned her the Gracie Award for Best Podcast News Host, in addition to honors from the Online Journalism Awards, Signal and Lovie Awards. Prior to The Take, she spent eight years co-hosting the Emmy-nominated TV news talk show, The Stream, broadcast to more than 310 million households in more than 140 countries.

A Chicago native, Malika studied at the American University in Cairo and graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She previously worked for Voice of America, has written for the Chicago Tribune, NPR and ESPN, and has hosted documentaries for PBS Digital.

She is also a moderator and speaker, regularly appearing on panels and at conferences to discuss media, representation, and the power of storytelling to bridge divides - a practice she tests nightly at bedtime with her three kids under three.

Malika’s reporting has taken her across the US and the Middle East, where she’s strived to bring nuance, empathy and context to every conversation. She has interviewed guests spanning the political and entertainment spectrum: from the late President Jimmy Carter and the Dalai Lama, to Yara Shahidi and Trevor Noah. Her favorite interviews, though, are with the people you haven’t heard of yet.