Elaine Clark is a Hoosier, and studied folklore and Germanic studies at Indiana University. She earned a master's degree in Middle East studies from the University of Utah, which included a year of academic research and work for an education NGO in the West Bank. From 2004 to 2019, Elaine was a producer for KUER's flagship interview program RadioWest. In her free time, Elaine dreams about her former days as a rugby fullback, wanders the desert and mountains with her husband and stepdaughter, and, as a self-confessed history nerd, reads 19th century newspapers and census records for sport.