On March 23rd, ten days after the White House declared a national emergency—and when the number of Coronavirus cases stood at just over 44,000 in the United States—NPR debuted its new program The National Conversation from All Things Considered. In addition to providing important information about the virus, as well as government and business' responses to it, the key feature of the program is its format, where listeners can submit questions to be answered by relevant experts. Given the novel nature of the disease, as well as the rapidly evolving approach to countering it, the show aims to alleviate the concerns of its listeners as much as is possible. As the show's co-host Ari Shapiro, who was interviewed for this piece, put it, "Particularly when people are isolated, I think a program that creates a true national conversation can help listeners overcome some of the anxiety and fear that so many are experiencing right now."
NPR's "The National Conversation": Answering the Pressing Questions
