Anita Rao

The State of Things was North Carolina Public Radio’s flagship daily, live talk show which aired on stations heard by more than 400,000 listeners each week. If featured dynamic conversations with diverse guests on topics spanning politics, in-depth cultural analysis and explorations of art and psychology. I worked on the show from February 2014 until the show went off the air in December 2020.

I started on the show as a producer and won three Gracie Awards for my production work, including outstanding entertainment/information conversation for this segment; outstanding news content for this interview; and outstanding producer for non-commercial radio. I enjoyed working on the recurring popular culture series #BackChannel; hour-long programs exploring topics like body image and domestic violence; and profiles of compelling individuals like prosperity gospel scholar Kate Bowler and drone advocate Missy Cummings.

Starting in February 2017, I became the show’s managing editor. I edited, guided and supervised a team of producers and a technical director; created and sustained collaborations with public media outlets throughout the state; and facilitated live, remote broadcast events.

In July 2017, I started guest hosting the show and became a regular host of the show in August 2019 with weekly hosting shifts. During that time I founded and launched the recurring series Embodied, about sex, relationships and health, which went on to become its own standalone radio show and podcast.