Talk of the Nation
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''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American
talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
program based in
Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, produced by National Public Radio (
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on
current events News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. New ...
and controversial issues. The show began broadcasting in November 1991. It was hosted by
Neal Conan Neal Joseph Conan III (November 26, 1949August 10, 2021) was an American radio journalist, producer, editor, and correspondent. He worked for National Public Radio for over 36 years and was the senior host of its talk show ''Talk of the Nation'' ...
from late 2001 to June 27, 2013, the program's last day on air. Each episode featured guests discussing current affairs. Past regular hosts have included
John Hockenberry John Charles Hockenberry (born June 4, 1956) is an American journalist and author. He has reported from all over the world, on a wide variety of stories in several mediums for more than three decades. He has written dozens of magazine and newsp ...
,
Ray Suarez Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently a visiting professor at NYU Shanghai and was previously the John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies at Am ...
, and
Juan Williams Juan Antonio Williams (born April 10, 1954) is a Panamanian-born American journalist and political analyst for Fox News Channel. He writes for several newspapers, including ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The Wall Street ...
. On Fridays
Ira Flatow Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts Public Radio International's popular program ''Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series ''Newton's Apple'', a television scie ...
hosted ''
Science Friday ''Science Friday'' (known as ''SciFri'' for short) is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 400 public radio stations. ''SciFri'' is hosted by award-win ...
'', with discussion topics from science and technology. The program invited listeners to pose questions for the guest host or hosts by telephone or e-mail. On March 29, 2013, NPR announced that it would cease production of ''TOTN'' at the end of June, replacing it with an expanded version of '' Here and Now'', an NPR/
WBUR WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed program ...
co-production. ''Science Friday'' continued as an independent show.


Format

''TOTN'' began with a look ahead to the upcoming topics. Then the regular five-minute NPR newscast occurred. After the newscast, the show generally spent from 30 minutes to the entire show discussing the main topic. If discussion on that topic petered, or if the guests had to leave, then shorter news interviews similar to those found on the NPR news-magazines of five to ten minutes aired. Sometimes these shorter segments took calls, but often they did not. More controversial issues may have had guests and take calls the entire hour. One hour's topics did not carry into the next hour. This is because many stations carried only one hour of the program. In addition, the host delivered a concluding "This is ''Talk of the Nation'' from NPR News" as a cue to stations that wish to cut away to local programming before the scheduled break. To coordinate the choice of interviewees across all NPR programs such as ''
Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'', ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'', and ''
Tell Me More ''Tell Me More'' was a National Public Radio interview show that was hosted by journalist Michel Martin. ''Tell Me More'' was first introduced online in December 2006 through an "open piloting" program called "Rough Cuts." Martin and the show's ...
'', NPR set up a "
dibs Dibs may refer to: * Pekmez, Arabic fruit molasses * Dibs (song), a 2015 Kelsea Ballerini song * The subject of '' Dibs in Search of Self'', an emotionally crippled boy * Mr Dibs (born 1964), a British rock musician * Nestlé Dibs, a frozen snac ...
list" system around 2005, whereby the first show to declare interest in a particular guest can "reserve" that person.


Hosts

Hosts included
John Hockenberry John Charles Hockenberry (born June 4, 1956) is an American journalist and author. He has reported from all over the world, on a wide variety of stories in several mediums for more than three decades. He has written dozens of magazine and newsp ...
(1991–1992),
Ray Suarez Rafael Suarez, Jr. (born March 5, 1957), known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist and author. He is currently a visiting professor at NYU Shanghai and was previously the John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies at Am ...
(1993–1999),
Juan Williams Juan Antonio Williams (born April 10, 1954) is a Panamanian-born American journalist and political analyst for Fox News Channel. He writes for several newspapers, including ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', and ''The Wall Street ...
(2000–2001), and
Neal Conan Neal Joseph Conan III (November 26, 1949August 10, 2021) was an American radio journalist, producer, editor, and correspondent. He worked for National Public Radio for over 36 years and was the senior host of its talk show ''Talk of the Nation'' ...
(2001–2013).
Ira Flatow Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts Public Radio International's popular program ''Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series ''Newton's Apple'', a television scie ...
served as host of ''
Science Friday ''Science Friday'' (known as ''SciFri'' for short) is a weekly call-in talk show that broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations, distributed by WNYC Studios, and carried on over 400 public radio stations. ''SciFri'' is hosted by award-win ...
'' since 1991. Guest hosts on the show included:
Alison Stewart Alison Stewart (born July 4, 1966) is an American journalist and author. Stewart first gained widespread visibility as a political correspondent for MTV News in the 1990s. Early life and education Stewart was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. ...
,
Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series ''This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ...
,
Mary Louise Kelly Mary Louise Kelly is an American broadcaster and author. She anchors the daily news show ''All Things Considered'' on National Public Radio (NPR), and previously covered national security at the network. Prior to NPR she reported for CNN and the ...
,
John Donvan John Donvan (born 1955) is a journalist, broadcaster and debate moderator whose bestselling book, ''In a Different Key: The Story of Autism'', was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist. He serves as host of the Intelligence Squared US, a debate series dedicat ...
, and Tony Cox. From 2001 to 2013, ''TOTN'' had only two executive producers: Leith Bishop, and more recently, Sue Goodwin.


Audience

In September 2010, ''Talk of the Nation'' was aired on 328 public radio stations, and had a weekly audience of 3.2 million and an
AQH share AQH Share is a statistic that measures broadcast radio listenership. Definition AQH is an abbreviation for Average Quarter-Hour Persons (AQH Persons), defined by Arbitron (now referred to as Nielsen Audio) as the average number of persons listeni ...
of 605,700. As of March 2013, ''TOTN'' was airing on 407 stations to what host Neal Conan said was "the largest audience in the program's history". In the final segment of the show's final episode, Conan noted the program had an audience of "more than 3.6 million ... each week. That puts ''Talk of the Nation'' in the top 10 of all
talk shows A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
in the country."


Cancellation

On March 29, 2013, NPR and WBUR announced that ''Talk of the Nation'' would cease production and that NPR would replace it with a two-hour version of '' Here and Now''. According to NPR executives, "the unusual move ... to replace ''Talk of the Nation'' with WBUR's ''Here & Now'', which is carried by not even half as many stations across the country, is partly in response to long-voiced demands by member stations calling for more robust news coverage during the workday. The number of public radio listeners sags markedly between ''
Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'' and ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''." Partnering with WBUR to expand ''Here and Now'' is considered a "more pragmatic approach to expanding id-daynews coverage" than ''
Day to Day ''Day to Day'' (''D2D'') was a one-hour weekday American radio newsmagazine distributed by National Public Radio (NPR), and produced by NPR in collaboration with ''Slate''. Madeleine Brand, Alex Chadwick, and Alex Cohen served as hosts. Topics ...
'' (2003–2009), an earlier NPR attempt at such a program, which had been produced in collaboration with ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
''. The final broadcast of the program was on June 27, 2013.Final Talk Of The Nation Airs Thursday
June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.


References


External links

* Includes segment-by-segment audio and transcripts. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Talk Of The Nation American talk radio programs NPR programs 1991 radio programme debuts 2013 radio programme endings