The State We’re In, an English-language public radio series produced by Radio Netherlands Worldwide in partnership with WAMU in Washington, D.C., will shut down production next month, according to its producers.
The show, which relates first-person accounts of life-changing experiences, has an audience reach of 12 million people, but it fell victim to domestic austerity measures imposed by the Dutch government in 2011. When Radio Netherlands’ government funding was cut by 70 percent, The State We’re In was reported to be one of the few programs to survive the transition.
“We were assured at that time by Radio Netherlands’ outgoing management that the show was still going to be an integral part of Radio Netherlands, but those assurances didn’t hold,” Greg Kelly, the program’s editor, wrote in an announcement posted Sept. 28 on the show’s website.
Kelly wrote that the network’s shift in focus toward developing nations (where its mandate now centers on promoting freedom of expression), and a slower-than-expected transition to new management, “have made it impossible for us to continue.”
The program is hosted by Jonathan Groubert, and counts among its fans This American Life‘s Ira Glass, who has called the show “amazing.” It has gained weekend time slots on public radio stations in many top US markets, including WAMU, New York’s WNYC and Chicago’s WBEZ. In June the show won six medals at the New York Festivals International Radio Awards.
The last original program will be produced in October, with reruns continuing after that, according to Kelly.