NPR Launches ''Wild Card'' Podcast with Rachel Martin

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, April 29, 2024 | 3:13pm CT

''Wild Card''

NPR is launching "Wild Card," a new weekly podcast from longtime NPR host and journalist Rachel Martin. During the show, Martin rips up the typical interview script and invites guests to play a game about life's biggest questions. She takes actors, artists and thinkers on a choose-your-own-adventure conversation that lets them open up about their fears, joys and how they've built meaning from experience.

Premiering May 2, Wild Card features conversations with guests actress, writer and producer Issa Rae on rethinking failure; actress and comedian Jenny Slate on the realities of motherhood; record producer and musician Jack Antonoff on regrets; Poet Laureate Ada Limon on forgiveness and more.

"I was craving a way to have deeply thoughtful conversations that get straight to the core of what it means to be human," said Martin. "And life is heavy enough, so why not turn it into a game? Wild Card is surprising in all the best ways and I can't wait to put it out into the world. My hope is that listeners will connect to the questions we're asking, and that hearing people talk about them out loud will help us all feel a part of a bigger community searching for answers."

On "Wild Card," guests answer questions by choosing at random from a deck of cards. Each card has a question that invites guests to share more about the experiences that have shaped them, the lessons they're still learning and the beliefs that guide them. The serendipity of the card format means that even Rachel doesn't know where the conversation will go.

Martin previously spent six years as a host of "Morning Edition," and was the founding host of NPR's morning news podcast "Up First." She also hosted "Weekend Edition Sunday."