NPR's Talk of the Nation Is Signing Off

"East Coast liberal elites" have lost another outlet for their opinions now that National Public Radio is putting an end to one of its signature shows. After 21 years on the air, the afternoon call-in show "Talk of that Nation" is being sent out to pasture, taking away the best opportunity the public radio listeners had for interacting with the show and getting their views on the airwaves.

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The plan, according to Brian Stelter of The New York Times, is to replace "Talk" with the straight news program "Here and Now," which will expand to two hours and fill up the weekday afternoon schedule. "Here and Now" is produced by Boston University's WBUR.

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It sounds more like a retirement than a cancellation, since NPR says they offered other jobs to host Neal Conan and every staffer on "Talk." (Conan has decided to leave the network he's been working at since 1977, in order to "step away from the rigors of daily journalism.") Also, the topical once-a-week version of "Talk," which is known as "Science Friday," will continue to air in its regular slot.

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NPR said the decision was made in part because member stations had requested another news magazine-style show to match "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered," and that there is already a glut of call-in shows on talk radio. The final episode will air at the end of July.

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Image via cliff1066™ on Flickr