Krista Tippett, the host of the NPR show, On Being, has much to say on the subject of hope and despair, often closing interviews by asking her guests what causes their despair and what brings them hope. We want to share a few offerings from her today, as part of our 2023 blog theme of Hope.
In 2021, she did a series on hope on her radio program titled The Future of Hope. Instead of interviewing guests in her usual format, she invited past guests to interview and converse with each other on this subject, including Michael Pollan & Katherine May; Pico Iyer & Elizabeth Gilbert; Darnell Moore & dream hampton; and others. The conversations are very real, very grounded, and eminently relatable. They offer windows into the messy real-life ways that these thinkers and creatives hang on and keep going in the face of global and personal challenge. Listen to all of the episodes in the series here.
There are many interviews out there with Krista on this topic. In this feature interview from the New York Times Magazine she speaks about generative possibilities and landscapes: “Krista Tippett Wants You to See All the Hope That's Being Hidden” by David Marchese. And in this podcast interview by Sounds True founder Tami Simon, they speak about the important difference between Hope and optimism: Krista Tippett: Virtue, Hope, Flesh, and Faith.
And this short piece, titled “On Hope,” that she did for Orion Magazine in 2020 is a concise summary of her thoughts and feelings on this important topic.
Though Krista ended her 20+ year NPR radio show last June, it is rumored that she will have a new podcast beginning soon. Archived episodes of On Being can be found here.
