Karen Given
Karen has worked in radio since she was 16 years old, getting her start at a small commercial music station in Joshua Tree, California. Her favorite part of the job was reading the news updates at the top of every hour.
She came to WBUR in 1991 as a student at Boston University. In her years at B.U., Karen earned degrees in Political Science and Broadcast Journalism and expanded her radio skills with a work study job in WBUR’s audio engineering department. Eventually she was hired on as the Technical Director for Only A Game and Car Talk.
Karen made the transition from technical to editorial by way of Reno, Nevada, where she spent a year as the only feature news reporter for Reno’s public radio station, KUNR. With her newly acquired reporting skills, Karen returned to WBUR as a producer and reporter for Only A Game.
During her tenure with Only A Game, Karen has covered the Salt Lake City Olympics and the first regular season NFL game in London, but her most ambitious story to date was a profile of a town in the Rift Valley where most of Kenya’s elite long distance runners live and train. That story, “Kenya’s Fastest Town,” won the 2007 national Edward R. Murrow Award for Sports Reporting.
Researchers Compete For Athletes’ Brains
Fans may never know whether NFL veteran Junior Seau suffered from a disease caused by multiple concussions. But, as more scientists and research organizations join the search for answers, competition over brains to study is growing. Only A Game's Karen Given has our story.
Memory Champions Aim For Perfect Recall
If you want to go where everybody knows your name, try the USA Memory Championship, held each March in New York City. They'll even teach you how to do it. Only A Game's Karen Given has our story.
Fenway Turns 100 Years Old
Fenway Park turned 100 years old on Friday. Only A Game's Karen Given stopped by the historical ballpark to study its rich history.
From ‘Tessie’ To ‘Sweet Caroline’: A Brief History Of Fenway Park
On Fenway's 100th anniversary, we look back at the history of the famed ballpark.
Matt Long: Boston’s Most Inspiring Qualifier
Former New York City firefighter Matt Long qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2005, just six weeks before his body was crushed by a bus. His body will never fully recover from his injuries, but since 2008 he's crossed two major finish lines and still dreams of another. Only A Game's Karen Given has our story.
Bird-Magic Rivalry Returns — To The Stage
“Magic/Bird,” a play chronicling the rivalry and friendship of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, opens Wednesday on Broadway.
Legendary “Magic/Bird” Basketball Rivalry Lands On Broadway
Anyone who turned on a television in the late seventies through the early nineties is familiar with the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird rivalry. It's a familiar tale that, as Only A Game's Karen Given recently witnessed, is currently playing out in an unexpected place.
MIT Basketball Dances Into History
MIT’s Division III basketball team has made the Sweet Sixteen of what’s known as the “Little Dance” for the first time in the program’s 111-year history.
Beren Academy Gets to Play
Bill talks with the Houston Chronicle's Jerome Solomon about Beren Academy, a Orthodox Jewish team playing in a weekend tournament after games were rescheduled to accommodate the Jewish Sabbath.
An Olympic Snub Reconsidered
Olympics Über Alles, co-written by Samuel J. Bernstein and Margarite Krupp, explores the snub of two Jewish sprinters during the 1936 Olympic games. The athletes believed they were passed over due to their religion, but historians aren't certain. Only A Game's Karen Given has our story.
