NPR is ending the 21-year-run of "Talk of the Nation" in June, and will replace it with an expanded edition of "Here & Now" from Boston-based WBUR.
Neal Conan (pictured), who has hosted "Talk of the Nation" for 11 years and been with NPR for 35, will leave daily journalism when the show stops production, NPR said.
"Here & Now" will be expanded from one to two hours and will be updated for different time zones. It will fill provide total hours of news programming, from noon to 4 p.m. ET, between "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered."
The show is hosted by Robin Young, and Jeremy Hobson will join her as co-host. Meghna Chakrabarti, co-host of WBUR’s "Radio Boston," will be the main backup host.
WBUR has long collaborated with NPR and is the home of such national programs as "Car Talk," "On Point," and "Only a Game."
It has produced "Here & Now" since 1997 and it became a national show in 2001. It now airs on over 180 stations.
NPR's "Science Friday" with Ira Flatow will continue to air each Friday from 2-4 p.m. ET.
Conan joined NPR in 1977, and worked as a reporter based in New York, Washington and London. He was NPR's bureau chief in both New York and London, and anchored national political conventions, confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees and President Clinton's impeachment proceedings.
He played a major role in NPR's coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in 2004 hosted the first radio-only presidential candidates' debate since 1948.
