This grant provides three years of support to Science Friday, the only regular weekly, two-hour slot on public radio devoted to all things science — high quality, fact-checked science.  Science Friday’s Sloan-supported programming targets the fertile intersection between science and the arts and has resulted in a recurring feature called SciArts that brings the two cultures closer via live interviews and call?ins, as well as podcasts, special events and multimedia blogs. Award?winning host Ira Flatow and new co-host Flora Lichtman have made the show a magnet for filmmakers, playwrights, authors, musicians, sculptors, painters and digital artists who engage with science.  Grant funds support the production of 30 new SciArt segments a year, or 90 segments over three years, reaching over two million people each week. The segments will also be adapted and published to Science Friday’s YouTube channel. In addition, Science Friday will hold a Monthly Book Club that reaches close to 50,000 committed listeners and work with libraries, publishers and local book clubs to expand listenership and uptake. They will also resume a dozen live events across the country on their traveling road show and begin a science series titled Picture of the Week on Instagram that reaches almost 70,000 people. Finally, they will continue their Science Goes to the Movies newsletter. 

Funds from this grant provide three years of support to National Public Radio (NPR) for the continued publication and distribution of its acclaimed twice-weekly podcast, Planet Money and its off-shoot, The Indicator, both award-winning projects that examine key economic issues for a general audience in an accurate, accessible, and engaging way. With grant funds, NPR expects to publish over 300 podcast episodes per year—approximately 100 new episodes of Planet Money and 200 new episodes of The Indicator— covering a variety of important, compelling economic issues such as inflation, the ongoing effects of the pandemic on our economy, federal rental assistance, and remote work. Grant funds will also support the annual production of 150 video segments for Planet Money Shorts, an online video series that became the foundation of NPR’s first TikTok account.