This grant provides three years of support for the production and distribution of Science Friday, the only regular weekly show on public radio devoted to all things science. Hosted by Ira Flatow and reaching a weekly audience of some two million through radio, streaming, social media, and the web, Science Friday is a uniquely powerful platform for advancing the public understanding of science. Supported activities over the grant period include production and distribution of 150 radio segments for broadcast; 12 to 18 digital videos; 36 digital pieces in the popular SciCandy series on photography; continued production of the biweekly Science Friday newsletter, Science Diction; the hosting of three live events in the “Science Goes to the Movies” series; and continuation of the Sci Arts Book Club. Additional grant funds support outreach and engagement activities to publicize Science Friday content and broaden its audience.

This grant provides one year of support to the PBS NewsHour to continue its regular broadcast of Making Sen$e with Paul Solman, a biweekly segment that explains business and economic issues clearly and engagingly to a general audience both on air and online. Grant funds support the production of 25 7-to-10-minute Making Sen$e broadcast segments on major issues facing the American and global economy, such as how populism and the Trump administration are reshaping economic policy, how to interpret the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report, how the Federal Reserve works, the impact of new corporate tax breaks on the deficit, and trends in the job market, wages, and money management. Additional grant funds will support the production of hundreds of original pieces of web native content that deepen and extend the issued covered in Solman’s on-air segments.

This grant provides funding to National Public Radio for production of the Planet Money podcast and a series of related initiatives designed to bring deeply reported stories on key economic issues to a general audience in an accurate, accessible, and engaging way. Over the next two years, grant funds will support production of the twice weekly Planet Money podcast as well as production of the Indicator, a podcast covering economic and business events in the news which is broadcast every weekday. In addition, grant funds will support the production of 12 online videos in the Planet Money Shorts series; 16 pieces of deep-dive written reporting; a live Planet Money event; and extended outreach to increase social media engagement, expand the Planet Money newsletter, and promote use of Planet Money content in America’s classrooms.

This grant supports the WNYC Health Unit’s ongoing coverage of health care policy, health economics, and the complexities and contradictions of the U.S. health care system. Over the three-year grant period, Sloan funds will help WNYC produce 45 to 50 broadcast segments each year on a range of health topics including the Affordable Care Act under the Trump administration, the opioid and obesity epidemics, and the gap in hospital billing between what hospitals charge and the real costs of care. Segments will be aired on several of NPR’s most popular radio programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, The Takeaway, and the Brian Lehrer Show. In addition to these weekly segments, WNYC will produce two to three episodes of its Only Human podcast each year. The long-form serial podcast allows WYNC to take a deeper dive into complex health care issues, with a focus on extensive research, immersive storytelling, and rich characters. WNYC will also convene annual workshops, bringing together leading health care practitioners, economists, and policy experts to discuss the health care system and potential reforms. Last, grant funds will support a new radio drama, produced in collaboration with Radiolab, on the life and work of John Bonica, an anesthesiologist and a world champion wrestler also known as the “father of pain management.”