Krista Tippett Announces Departure from Public Radio: ON BEING Podcast to Continue

National Public Radio is suffering from a serious brain drain in podcasting. Numerous NPR radio / podcast personalities such as Sam Sanders has left to explore "other opportunities."

Today, Krista Tippett, Host and Producer of the award-winning podcast On Being, has announced that she is leaving the public radio system in June. The show will continue as an independent project in the fall under Tippett’s oversight, eliminating the need for weekly content and allowing for the podcast to be produced on a seasonal basis.

On Being examines what it calls the "animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?"

 

On Being began when Krista Tippett pitched a series of pilots on religion, meaning, and ethics to Bill Buzenberg, then Vice President for News at Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media, in the late 1990s. 

The program became Speaking of Faith, a monthly series in 2001 and a weekly national program distributed by American Public Media (APM) in 2003. In 2010, the show's name changed to On Being. In 2013, Tippett left APM to start the non-profit production company, Krista Tippett Public Productions, which she described as "a social enterprise with a radio show at its heart."

Tippett’s legacy at NPR is storied – On Being was among the first radio shows to transition into podcasting, and the show has garnered a large audience of listeners and impressive streaming numbers in its almost 20 years of existence. On Being has hosted many notable guests, and in 2014, Tippett was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama for her work on the show. 

She leaves public radio "immensely grateful for the support she’s received throughout her career, and excited for what comes next."

On Being, which is currently distributed by WNYC/New York Public Radio, has over 650,000 weekly radio listeners on public radio stations around the country. The podcast has had over 375 million total plays and downloads. The show has received the highest honors in broadcasting, digital media, and podcasting – including a Peabody, an Ambie® Award, and multiple Webby Awards.