About Lisa Distelheim Barron

Lisa Barron is an award-winning broadcast journalist whose career spans decades and continents. Known for her sharp investigative instincts and unwavering commitment to truth, she has reported from war zones, political upheavals, natural disasters, global economic summits, and cultural turning points for major networks including CNN, CNBC, and CBS News.

She began her career in print, writing for distinguished publications such as Time, Life, The Economist, and The Sunday Times. Her international reporting has earned her both Gracie and Edward R. Murrow Awards, recognizing her clarity, courage, and depth of insight.

Lisa graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in International Relations and received her master’s degree in politics from the London School of Economics, where she studied as a Marshall Scholar.

Throughout her career, Lisa has conducted rare and historic interviews. She was the first Western journalist to interview Alexander Dubček after the Prague Spring and one of the only reporters to sit down with Lech Wałęsa while he led the underground Solidarity movement in Poland. She has interviewed presidents and prime ministers across Southeast Asia; global business leaders including Bill Gates; members of the British royal family; and political icons such as Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. 

Her reporting has brought audiences into pivotal world events—from the handover of Hong Kong to China to the rise of the African National Congress in apartheid South Africa and the war in Iraq.

Lisa is currently a producer for Weigel Broadcasting in Chicago, a national leader in original broadcast entertainment and factual programming. At Weigel, she worked closely with legendary journalist and news anchor Bill Kurtis on the history-driven daily show Through the Decades; she has interviewed extraordinary women—from Carol Burnett to Diana Nyad to Marcia Clark—for START TV, a female-centered network in partnership with CBS Television; and she now travels the country meeting people with remarkable collections for Collector’s Call, hosted by Lisa Whelchel of The Facts of Life.

Beyond journalism, Lisa is a dedicated advocate for animal welfare, veterans’ rights, and healthcare equity—causes that reflect her lifelong commitment to service, storytelling, and meaningful impact.