Goodbye, Ari Shapiro

0:00Hey, Consider This listeners. You're probably wondering why you're hearing me instead of one of your hosts. This is Matt Ozug, by the way. I'm a producer who helps make this podcast and also its broadcast cousin, All Things Considered. Well, today our news is about one of those hosts, Ari Shapiro. After 25 years at NPR and 10 years hosting All Things Considered and the last few years hosting this podcast, Ari is moving on to his next adventure. So I've been thinking a lot about the work he and we have done. Ari and I have worked together all around the world, reporting from a temple at dawn. It's a little before five in the morning.

0:40And from the top of a wind turbine. I am staring down hundreds of feet. Wow. And I'm always struggling to keep up. Ari walks fast, talks fast, writes and reads fast. But the story I will always associate with him is the first one we did together in Toledo, Ohio. We interviewed some college-age guys living together in a group house. Three of them are recent graduates from the University of Toledo. Mohamed Rafai is a butcher from Syria. They had just taken in a Syrian refugee. My name is Mohamed. Mohamed Rafai has big, dark eyes, black hair, and a shy smile. Are these the only people who call you Mo?

1:18That was in 2015. Nobody else calls me that, he says. Ari kept in touch with Mo. He brought listeners updates on Mo's life.

1:34It's true that Ari works fast, but he circles back to check in on people. I called Mo to let him know today, Friday, was Ari's last day. Mo had just gotten off work.

1:56Consider this. Ari Shapiro is wrapping up a quarter century at NPR, and we're saying goodbye.

2:08From NPR, I'm Matt Ozug.

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3:24It's Consider This from NPR. I think it's time to hand things back over to your on-air talent. We're going to share a piece more or less straight from the radio. This is the last story of the last hour of Ari Shapiro's last day on All Things Considered.

3:40Ari Shapiro:I'm Mary Louise Kelly. I'm Elsa Chang. I'm Juana Summers. And I'm Scott Detrow. Can I start by asking, did the rest of you ever hear the story to tell you about how he got rejected when he first applied to NPR as an intern? I have heard the story. Seems like it turned out okay for that guy, though. I guess so. So in the time that we have left on today's show, we wanted to take a moment to remember just a small sample of the many, many memorable All Things Considered moments that Ari brought to us and to you over the years. Right. Because being the overachiever that he is, Ari has covered the White House.

4:13Ari Shapiro:He has reported from the United Kingdom. He has reported from all across the country for NPR before ever joining this show. And he always had a knack, no matter what the beat was, no matter what the assignment was, for finding people who might not always have had an easy way to speak truth to power. One of Ari's first trips as a host brought him to Tennessee back in 2015. That state had begun charging women with a crime if they gave birth to a baby with a drug dependency. Many stories on that law at the time rarely included the voices of mothers. Ari's did. Finally, she was in her third trimester getting ready to give birth to a little girl.

4:47What finally broke me was I was 31 weeks. I had tied off to hit myself, and I put my arm on my stomach, and she kicked my arm off. And that broke me. It hurt.

5:07Over the years, Ari also interviewed so many writers and artists and musicians. Some of them were big names, decades-long careers. Think Kylie Minogue. How do you keep finding new ways to write a song about first love or about the joy of being on a dance floor, about these themes that you've been recording for decades? Yeah, I ask myself the same question. Like how I was thinking about all of the mentions of stars and star fields and gal. Like I keep going back to that. Ari also talked to others who were just starting their careers, like this conversation with Renee Rapp. I'm quite aggressive and I'm quite delusional.

5:45That's a potent combination. Yeah. That laugh. Ari has always championed bringing your whole self to the air. You hear that in just about every interview he does. It's the vibes. What a person of your generation would call vibes. Are very physical, very sweaty. Yes. Hope it's okay for me to say this. Kind of horny. A little sometimes, you know. She called him Chagall. It's Chagall. Okay, don't get all Ari Shapiro with it. Shocker, this album. Since you brought it up, you have a pilot's license, too. Yeah, but luckily for people in the air, I don't use it. I don't want you to take this the wrong way.

6:24But the question I kept having was, how did this get made?

6:32I have the office right next door to Ari's, and today it's empty. But for years, he decorated his space with art and all of these mementos from his travels, as well as books whose authors he'd interviewed.

6:43Ari Shapiro:Oh, and the letters. Don't forget the letters. The fan mail, which includes the critiques. Oh, yeah. Anytime a listener wrote in with some strong reaction to say some grammatical choice Ari had used on air, he would gleefully tape the letter to his office window for everyone to read. What mattered most to Ari was the connection. He connected powerfully with listeners and with guests. So we wanted to hear from some of the people whose lives already entered multiple times as a host and see where they are today. I'm Lisa Winton, and I am the owner, CEO of Winton Machine. We had our first conversation during COVID when I was trying to articulate the struggles of a small manufacturer to an audience that everyone was kind of focused on just the toilet paper shortages.

7:32Manufacturers across the country are having trouble filling positions. Why is that? Because there is a huge skills gap in this country. He stands out because he listens deeply and he asks thoughtful questions. As an entrepreneur and as a business owner, I'm super excited for him to see what that next adventure is.

8:02My name is Jenea McDonald. When I first met Ari, we were in the height of the Flint water crisis. What did I tell you about that water? It's poison. Ari reached out wanting to just come and experience a day in the life of what it looked like here. I started my chicken off this morning with about eight bottles of water to start the thaw out. I really felt like Ari gave me the voice of the Flint residents. We all had the same struggle of not trusting water. The recipes have a new ingredient these days. I've been doing it so long, I kind of know how many bottles of water it takes for each pass. That was one of the first things I remember telling him is that they're going to forget about us.

8:54The next story is going to come along and the Flint water crisis will get swept under the rug. And Ari made sure that that did not happen. Ever since. Now her boys are eight and 12. Can I give you a hug? Yes. I just want to thank you guys for coming into my home and allowing me to be a voice. And for that, I'm grateful. Best wishes, Ari. And I hope you can feel me squeezing you right now.

9:24Ari Shapiro:Oh, I want to squeeze you right now. I'm going to have so much more to say to my colleagues when we raise a glass in just a moment. But for my last word, I want to talk to you, whether you are in your kitchen or your car, walking your dog or at the gym. Your most valuable resource is your time. And I'm so grateful that you spent your time with me. And even as I say goodbye, NPR is not going anywhere. All things considered is not going anywhere. So as I wrap up my last show with these co-hosts that I love here in the studio with me, Elsa, Juana, Scott, let's say it. Thank you for listening to All Things Considered from NPR News.

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