The long-running public radio program On Being, after almost 20 years, has gone out of production, but the show’s mission continues.
KETR broadcast On Being’s final show on June 26. The innovative, Peabody Award-winning program presented conversations about the big questions of meaning — spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, and the arts. The program appeared on 389 stations nationwide.
On Being’s creator, Krista Tippett, continues to operate the On Being Project, the nonprofit organization that produced the program and now plans to publish a seasonal podcast.
Tippet told the public broadcasting industry publication Current that the On Being Project sees itself “as a media and public life organization” and the move away from broadcast is “about what we want to do more of.”
Tippett also mentioned a personal desire to move away from weekly deadlines. The On Being podcast should begin publication in October, Tippett said.
The program began in 2003 as a Minnesota Public Radio show called Speaking of Faith. In 2010, Tippett renamed the program On Being to reflect the inclusion of secular as well as spirituality-focused guests and topics.
Tippett also told Current she regrets how the transition away from broadcast will come with losing her broadcast-only audience, which includes people without reliable internet access as well as incarcerated people.
“It is a loss to me to lose rural audiences and also people in prison,” Tippett said.
Tippett’s move out of the Sunday 9 a.m. spot on KETR’s program schedule caused a minor shift in the station’s Sunday morning lineup. Millennium of Music moved into the 9 a.m. hour, while The New Yorker Radio Hour, KETR’s newest program, claimed Millennium’s old 6 a.m. Sunday spot.