Lunch at the Waldorf-Astoria with George Foster Peabody, Lesley Stahl, Krista Tippett, Tina Fey, and Stephen Colbert Kate Moos, Managing Producer Monday a few of us had the great honor and pleasure of attending the Peabody Awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, where Speaking of Faith was honored for its program on the 13th century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi. We were packed cheek by jowl into the large ballroom full of peers in broadcasting from around the country. My take away was the utter gravity with which this award is taken by people at every stratum of broadcasting, as a measure of quality and as a reminder of the promise that broadcasting holds not just to entertain (though surely to entertain) but also to inform, to nourish, and to challenge. Here, our dear host enjoys the scene with our colleague and good friend Tom Voegeli, and his son Ollie. Tom, an accomplished veteran producer of public radio, won his fourth Peabody this year for the MTT Files, a wonderful series with Michael Tilson Thomas. Thanks to all of you — our listeners and readers — for your intelligence, your warmth, and your engagement with our work. You make us very proud, and you are the reason we do this work gladly, with or without a Peabody. (photo: Mitch Hanley)
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Lunch at the Waldorf-Astoria with George Foster Peabody, Lesley Stahl, Krista Tippett, Tina Fey, and Stephen Colbert
Kate Moos, Managing Producer

Monday a few of us had the great honor and pleasure of attending the Peabody Awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, where Speaking of Faith was honored for its program on the 13th century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi. We were packed cheek by jowl into the large ballroom full of peers in broadcasting from around the country.

My take away was the utter gravity with which this award is taken by people at every stratum of broadcasting, as a measure of quality and as a reminder of the promise that broadcasting holds not just to entertain (though surely to entertain) but also to inform, to nourish, and to challenge.

Here, our dear host enjoys the scene with our colleague and good friend Tom Voegeli, and his son Ollie. Tom, an accomplished veteran producer of public radio, won his fourth Peabody this year for the MTT Files, a wonderful series with Michael Tilson Thomas.

Thanks to all of you — our listeners and readers — for your intelligence, your warmth, and your engagement with our work. You make us very proud, and you are the reason we do this work gladly, with or without a Peabody.

(photo: Mitch Hanley)

A Peabody Award!

Peabody Award statuetteby Krista Tippett, host

We’re all a little giddy around here today. This morning we learned that we won a 2008 Peabody Award, for our program on Rumi. This is broadcasting’s highest award, and for us it is a sign of arrival. Speaking of Faith launched almost five years ago as a weekly show. In the beginning, many simply didn’t believe that it would be possible to put a program on religion on the air without alienating, inflaming, or proselytizing.

It has been a great adventure pulling that off. And it has been a team effort to say the least. I include our listeners in that - listeners who encouraged and supported us and their public radio stations along the way, saying that, yes, this subject is too important not to risk finding a way to do it differently and get it right. I’ve sensed this past year that we are hitting our stride, finding our voice, in so many ways, and this award feels like a confirmation of that.

We will keep risking, experimenting and, I hope, getting better and better. But, for today, we’re celebrating and not getting much work done! Take a look here at the great company we’re in.