Some big news announcements from NPR about All Things Considered today.
Michel Martin, former host of Tell Me More, will become the new weekend host of All Things Considered heard Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on St. Louis Public Radio.
Michel will be building on her deep reporting and interviewing experience as former host of Tell Me More and across print and TV, including reporting for ABC News.
St. Louis Public Radio listeners know Michel well from her visits to St. Louis over the past few years. Michel moderated two important discussions in the last year from Wellspring Church in Ferguson following the shooting death of Michael Brown last August. Michel also brought Tell Me More to UMSL at Grand Center for a broadcast in 2013.
With Michel taking over the host chair, Weekend All Things Considered will be moving back to NPR Headquarters in Washington, DC at the end of September.
Michel’s ambitious series of live events, “Michel Martin: Going There,” will continue with multiple events planned across the country in the coming year. Longtime NPR producer and editor Kenya Young will become the show’s new weekend executive producer. She comes to this role from serving as an acting supervising editor of Morning Edition and previously worked on WATC, Day To Day and News & Notes.
New Weekday Hosts for All Things Considered
Starting in September, Kelly McEvers and Ari Shapiro will join Audie Cornish and Robert Siegel as weekday hosts of All Things Considered.
Kelly McEvers will trade her current post as NPR national desk correspondent for the role of weekday host of All Things Considered and will be based at NPR West. It will be the first time weekday All Things Considered will have a bicoastal presence. McEvers previously ran NPR's Beirut bureau, where she earned multiple awards for her 2012 coverage of the Syrian conflict.
NPR London correspondent Ari Shapiro will return to Washington, D.C., to join Audie Cornish and Robert Siegel in the studio weekdays. This adds All Things Considered host to Shapiro's NPR resume that includes starting as an intern to serving as NPR White House correspondent.
This expanded team of superlative journalists will add to the program’s strong reporting and great storytelling.
"We are evolving the structure and sound of All Things Considered to engage current and new audiences and make the most of the incredible talent we have on staff," said Chris Turpin, vice president of news programming and operations and former longtime executive producer of All Things Considered. "Adding these voices to our afternoon lineup seven days a week increases our ability to sound like America and the communities we cover," said Michael Oreskes, NPR senior vice president of news and editorial director. "With these changes, our listeners will benefit from a whole new range of stories, sources and perspectives."
The enhanced host lineup will give all four hosts more opportunity to pursue reporting projects outside the studio and give us the ability to take the show on the road more often.
Former Tell Me More executive producer Carline Watson will become All Things Considered’s executive producer, bringing her strong leadership and journalistic skills to the program.
During the past two years, Weekend All Things Considered has shown strong audience growth thanks to host Arun Rath and the WATC team. The WATC staff have developed innovative features like “My Big Break,” continued the program’s insightful coverage of the week’s news, and offered weekend listeners an extraordinary range of voices from the worlds of entertainment and the arts. Arun is returning to his home base in Boston in September, happy to end his bicoastal commute (despite the airline miles!).
As previously announced, Melissa Block will transition to an expanded role as special correspondent in mid-August.
