In a note to news and programming staff, Senior Vice President for Programming and Audience Development Anya Grundmann and Senior Director, On-Demand News Programming Neal Carruth, announced the following update about Embedded:

Dear colleagues,

We are writing today to share some news about Kelly McEvers and Embedded, the extraordinary podcast Kelly created with NPR and has hosted for the past six years.

Starting this summer, Embedded will become NPR's showcase property for deeply-reported and well-told limited-run series. A glimmer of this approach could be seen last spring when NPR's collaboration with Member station KQED, a podcast called On Our Watch, was introduced by Kelly and presented in the Embedded feed. Going forward, we plan to bring the Embedded audience several such projects each year. We'll have more information about those series in the coming months.

As Embedded makes this change, Kelly's relationship with the show will change as well. The show's forthcoming collaboration with The Marshall Project will be Kelly's last as the full-time host of Embedded. She'll continue to be heard on the podcast in the part-time role of Founding Host, presenting each new series to the audience and offering incisive feedback behind the scenes. This new role will allow Kelly to maintain a connection with the show she founded and created, with her colleagues at NPR, while also pursuing other projects. We fully expect that listeners will continue to hear Kelly's original reporting in the Embedded feed in the future. 

Over the past two decades, Kelly McEvers has reinvented herself several times. Her amazing career has had multiple chapters: war-zone correspondent, newsmagazine host, and podcast innovator. She is beginning a new chapter now, launching a podcast production company with other partners. Kelly and those partners will be sharing more about their new venture soon. 

In addition to her outstanding work on Embedded, Kelly has been a fierce advocate for excellence in longform journalism. She's created opportunities for many people inside and outside NPR to practice the craft. She's been an inspiration to many in the narrative audio field, mentoring a new generation of producers, editors, and reporters. 

As this new chapter begins for Kelly, she says, "This show started as a crazy idea. That idea became real with the amazing work of Tom Dreisbach and Chris Benderev, and so many others who supported us along the way. I am so grateful for the privilege, and I only hope to keep sharing that privilege with others. Now it's time for a new, crazy idea, which has the potential to be really freaking cool."

We're very excited about the future of Embedded and also excited to continue working with the fearless and creative Kelly McEvers. 

Anya Grundmann and Neal Carruth

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