Admittedly, as a conservative-leaning listener, it is difficult to tune into National Public Radio and not support the 2025 Republican-led rescission of its federal funding. On any given day, story selection will likely lean into niche liberal issues such as transgender rights or abortion access, or, more recently, the Iran war understood through its impact on gas prices — keywords “skyrocket,” “highest point,” and “effect on America’s wallet.” What former NPR editor Uri Berliner wrote in 2024 apparently remains true: “An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don’t have an audience that reflects America.”
But that doesn’t mean that NPR, absent federal funding, is going away. In fact, it may well thrive. Last week, it received the largest gift from a living donor in its history, an $80 million donation from Connie Ballmer, wife of former Microsoft co-CEO Steve Ballmer and a member of the Obama Foundation board of directors, whose Ballmer Group supports left-of-center causes, including action against systemic racism.
