Several high-profile NPR hosts recently left the station to work in other media organizations. Why?

Some think NPR has become less innovative and unaware of the competitive opportunities that are now available for talented journalists and producers. Others dislike NPR’s recent hyperfocus on race and gender or blame its “woke ideology” as too inhospitable to its employees of color. But it’s not just people of color who are leaving.

NPR may or may not have a race problem, but it’s just the tip of an iceberg that’s hiding a wider danger beneath the surface.

Today, we take a deep dive into what’s going on at NPR.

GUESTS: 

• Matt Taibbi investigative reporter, the co-host of the podcast “Useful Idiots” and the publisher of the TK newsletter on Substack.  He’s the author of several books, most recently, Hate Inc.
• Nikki Usher is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her third book is News for the Rich, White, and Blue: How Place and Power Distort American Journalism.
• Jenna Weiss-Berman is the co-founder of Pineapple Street Studios, which has produced podcasts like “Missing Richard Simmons” and "Still Processing." Before starting Pineapple Street, Jenna worked in public radio for a decade and started the podcast department at BuzzFeed.