The station is part news, part entertainment. Lots of stations are struggling to make it. The Tiny Desk concert series used to be in person. Now audiences can watch online. When hubby lost his wallet, one of the employees mailed it to him. read more

What an amazing experience st the tiny desk but definitely will not be my last. The artist for today was phenomenal unfortunately i'm not allowed to post them today but once it airs ill come back and put up photos, for now ill post what I have so enjoy. read more

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Amazing space and place - with ever so nifty news and music and book stuff and more. The building is beautiful. The staff is friendly. And the "Sound Bites" cafe - the folks there couldn't be nicer! (They even found us a couple of sandwiches after business hours - we didn't ask - they offered!). read more

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Excellent articles, programs and well written podcasts. One of my favorite radio stations in San Antonio and Houston

There are two sides to NPR and they both are great. The first side is for tourists. Unlike other media companies, NPR allows you to walk right in. There's a public lobby that visually tells the history of NPR and current stats. At the end of the lobby is a large gift shop with NPR everything from hats to baby onesies. They also give daily tours each morning to tourists. Then there's the actual office space. My friend who works there gave me a tour and it's a beautiful building with killer views of the US Capitol Building. There newsroom is two floors and looks similar to how The Washington Post sets up their newsroom minus the many studios for them to record their shows. If you're in the area, definitely sign up for the daily tour! read more

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When I found out, through a random Google search, that NPR gave tours I knew that I wanted to do this when I was in DC. But when I found out that NPR's National Headquarters was walkable from our Air BnB, I was thrilled! It's super simple to reserve a spot on the daily tour even just a few days out from the date when you want to visit. The number for the tours are capped so it is possible for the day that you may want to have a back up date in case the day you pick is filled. For the tour we arrived a handful of minutes early, checked in at the security desk. The tour registration page on the website asked that you print the confirmations, the folks at the desk didn't need them though. They just confirmed our identity with our IDs and with the information that was provided when signing up for the tour. After being waved over with a metal detector magnet pouches were passed out. These were so that if you did want to take a phone on the tour, for the possible photo ops, that you did so without having access to it in parts where photography was not allowed. In the lobby there are lockers for stashing your belongings that are not allowed on the tour. We had a bit on an issue with the remaining lockers not functioning but got help from one of the security folks. I appreciated the self regulated ecosystem on the roof of the building. Green space, even on a roof is great to see in a city like DC. More cool points for the bee hives they have on roof. The building itself is LEED certified. It was cool being in the recording rooms and walking through where folks were working. Seeing the tiny desk concert desk was awesome. Learning that the only real way to see a tiny desk concert is to be a staffer did make me sad but hey, the tiny desk concert button made it all a little bit better. If you're an NPR nerd like me or just a weekend listener I recommend taking the tour if you're in DC. read more

Wait Wait ... Don't Tell me because I need my Morning Edition while All Things Considered with some Fresh Air behind my Tiny Desk! If you're an avid fan or an occasional listener to NPR, this needs to be on your must-do's in Washington, D.C. It was definitely my highlight on a recent trip to actually visit the headquarters in person. In the NoMa neighborhood, this three year old LEED certified building has the state of the art office space and studios. Formally the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company building, they managed to house all of their production crew and writing staff in one location compared to their old locations in Chinatown. Once in the lobby, you'll see the impressive NPR history and the most technological equipment provided by a $200 million grant to help create this modern home base. You may stop by the brick and mortar shop called the Commons to purchase your favorite NPR souvenirs which is open weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.. If you're planning ahead, be sure to make an online reservation for their free one hour tour. The docent lead studio tour is conducted weekdays at 11 a.m.. Since I didn't have a reservation, I asked the security if there were any cancellations and was able to score the last ticket. Unfortunately, I missed the first ten minutes of the tour but quickly caught up with the group and began to see the action behind the secured doors. This magnificent building was devised with the upmost consideration to an open floor plan and technology. The space was well used and the sound proof studios were ingenious. We stood above on the mezzanine so we could not interfere with their time sensitive work flow. I was star struck when the docent pointed out Lakshmi Singh!! We also entered the pre-production studio and where some of the programs were taped. She explained why the precise timing was so crucial. Other highlights included the satellite garden and a toy mascot dog. For the music buffs, we also toured the All Songs Considered: Tiny Desk hosted by Bob Boilen and got to stand behind the infamous "stage" where up and coming music artists have performed for the staff. This tour is only a small glimpse of what NPR provides and stands for. Carve out time to be impressed with this exclusive peek of how public radio has made great strides since it's humble beginnings back in 1970. read more

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Pretty cool to visit HQ for NPR, even if the person guiding the tour is not an official employee. Those folks are too busy, of course! However, the tour guide was pretty knowledgeable, so you'll be on good hands. Here's the play by play: 1. Register to tour the building via the website, and await your confirmation email. 2. Arrive 15 minutes early, choosing train, car or bike- all are relatively convenient. 3. Sign in at security desk, receive badge/sticker with clip, and wait by the timeline of info. about NPR from start to 2013, when building became NPR HQ. 4. Meet tour guide and hear house rules- rule number one: no food. Rule number two: pictures only when explicit permission by your guide is given. 5. Tour studio 1. Tour main news floor from above. Tour green roof from inside. Tour another studio. Exit through gift shop. It's a neat building, LEED gold certified, so that's pretty cool, too! It's a large building with room for growth, so you won't feel cramped like touring a college radio station. It's a great space with lots of natural lighting, helping with mood and productivity. Enjoy it! read more

Tours are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00am. They are free, surprisingly in depth, and our host was very informative and somewhat hilarious. On the tour, we got to see NPR Music, several production studios, and the offices for both All things Considered, and Morning Edition. Really great tour, and depending on how many pretentious question-askers there are in your group, tours can last anywhere between 45 and 75 minutes. Sadly, no gift shop. They'd rather you get your gifts via drive time and your local station. :( :( :( read more

National Public Radio - Radio Stations Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Going on the NPR tour has been one of the best experiences I've had since coming to DC! If you have the time, I highly highly recommend trying to take one of thee tours in their NOMA building. It was extremely informative and you got to see some amazing things. You actually get to see the workspace and studios, and the tour guide I had was super nice. She knew what people would be interested in and never hesitated to offer to take a picture when it was allowed. Again, I highly recommend doing this tour!!! read more

National Public Radio - Radio Stations Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I found out about free one hour tours each weekday at 11 am from a colleague. I signed up and went today and arrived 20 minutes early to check in and store my stuff in secure lockers. Since I had a few extra minutes, I went to the NPR Commons, the official NPR shop. The shop has t shirts, books, gifts, cards, and other items for sale. Today, they also have the All Crafts Considered event from 3 - 8 pm. Regina, the docent, gathered the group of 20 or so in the lobby and proceeded to tell us about the move from the Mass Ave location to its current location in the NoMa hood. The NPR location is housed in the former Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co. and remade into a beautiful LEED certified facility. Workers have stand up desks, multiple monitors, open cubicles and lots of natural light to bolster their environments.The place is stunningly beautiful, and I hope everyone working here is appreciative and happy. A lot of people on my tour were in awe of the beauty of this place. Furthermore, we found out the roof has 7 satellite dishes and many plants that seem to survive through some of the last coldest days we've seen in months. Regina also pointed out the honeycombs and some other interesting tidbits about the place. There is a staff cafeteria, which the general public does not have access to, but I think I caught a glimpse on the way out and it's called Soundbyte Cafe. They also have an unofficial mascot who they named Nipper. They feed him soundbytes. Cute, no? We were able to take pictures in very limited places during the tour such as in the lobby, a studio where recordings are made, and the gift shop. Too bad we didn't see any live or taped broadcasts but we did get to see a studio and see people working. The egg chair looked awesome! read more

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The place to go for trusted news, not corporate or special interest-controlled news. Most of the funding for NPR, like PBS, its television counterpart, comes from grants and viewer support. 5% comes from the government (and that 5% includes Federal, state, and local...the smallest sliver from Federal). The Federal Government sends 1000x more in our tax payer money to ungrateful nations which just push us into fighting their wars, but I digress. One star docked because, like PBS, NPR tip toes around democracy crushers like the Koch Brothers, Mercer, and Sinclair, hinting that those groups have their talons in NPR, so they can dictate programming. This is akin to Rupert Murdoch taking over National Geographic and thus not allowing the magazine to feature cover stories on climate change. Yet cover stories about the search for "historic Jesus" are fine. As long as we still have some resemblance of a democracy in the United States, NPR can prevail. But for who knows how long. read more

You'd have gotten 5 stars if we could eat at soundbites. Visiting a radio station is sort of like visiting the senate. You get to see where people work, you sit where they sit, but you don't get to meet the faces. This was the npr tour. A guide showed us around the building, we got to sit in a studio where they do interviews, we walked through the newsroom- all cool. However, we didnt get to meet any personalities. Well, theyre working so that might be too much to ask. They also didnt let us eat in the employee cafeteria. Maybe thats because we'd all turn into fans and hit up personalities for autographs even though we dont know what any of them look like. But it would have been cool. read more

National Public Radio - The sky cooperated - Radio Stations Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

New coverage is disappointing every day. Here's why: 1) You do not give enough info to make it relevant to me. Example: Chestnut Tree story - you did not say: how I can help Chestnuts in the US. 2) The way things are said is important. Example: in the NY Planners story of 12/13/12, they say, "ice sheets will melt..." instead of the truth that ice sheet ARE melting. 3) The words chosen come across as negative. They imply 'things are bad' and 'things will never change'. Example: in the story on the oldest Senators leaving speeches, the Senators say some wise and heartening things, then the reporter wraps up the story with: "still, the departure of the moderates may not bode well..." Basically, your coverage is: not useful to me and a bummer to listen to. I really expect better from such a powerful progressive institution. read more

I love NPR. However, I have not had a chance to take a tour of headquarters yet, but I did go to their Merchandise Sale this past weekend. There was a line to get in when we got there and David Green came outside to apologize for the wait since they were not expecting there to be a line. Unfortunately, I did not get to actually meet him (which I had been looking forward to). Once we got inside, it was really hard to see the merchandise since the room was full of people listening to the speakers at one end of the room. I have no idea who was speaking since I could not see them and missed the introductions. I am satisfied with my purchases, the prices were not bad and it was nice to have access to the items they sell in their online shop so that you could see and touch everything (provided the crowd would move to allow you access). It's too bad the room was so small and they do not have a gift shop, the set up could have been a little more accommodating that way. I would go again if they do it next year, even if it's just to get a chance to meet some of the on-air voices I've grown to enjoy listening to everyday. read more

Though I am a fan of public radio as a whole, this tour was a little underwhelming. Took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get through the tour, which included such "highlights" as the satellite dishes and the green roof. True highlights were seeing the Tiny Desk where concerts are held and speaking to a real, in the field reporter for various segments. I think it would be better if they held the tours and had a Q&A with in-the-field or on-the-air personalities, instead of the well versed but kind of dry tour guide. All in all, a decent tour for the biggest of fans, but I can see places for improvement for your average person. read more

From 2013, NPR has moved to a new building, so any reviews prior to that date reference the old location, so you know. Tours are now offered daily at 11. We went last week, and enjoyed a nice hour-long tour led by an engineer. You get to see the grassy roof (they will be growing their own vegetables soon!), an impressive overlook onto the cubicles where all the team is working, a tour of the studio (or a backup) for Morning Edition/All Things Considered, and stops in their area for recording orchestras (no echo when you talk, kinda freaky), the server room, and the engineering area, and at last a gift shop! The guide was lively and authoritative and answered lots of questions. And he pointed out that it was Supreme Court correspondent/NPR superstar Nina Totenberg who shared an elevator ride with our group! Which sealed the deal for me purchasing the Nina Totin' Bag as a memento of my stay. It's free, it's informative, it's one of the good things about America, and it's almost a secret. Go! read more

Bummer. I am staying in the NoMa area and this is the only thing I really wanted to do. Public tours of NPR Headquarters have been canceled for July 2018. No future tour registrations are being accepted at this time. Hopefully, this changes soon. read more

I took a tour of the new NPR headquarters, located in the Noma neighborhood, back in October, as part of an organization I am a part of. It was a very fun tour and we were able to see quite a bit of the studio, including the multi-storied main room, the rooftop, and even a studio where the shows are produced and aired. The building is very interesting, as it is state of the art, but still incorporates a lot of the elements from its original state from back in the 60's and 70's. In all, it seems like an efficient, modern building and I was very fortunate to have gotten a tour of it recently. The gift shop was unfortunately not open on the day I visited, but I'm looking forward to visiting again in the future and hopefully being able to visit the shop as well. read more

IMPORTANT NOTE: This being a time-driven business, tours run on schedule or early. Be sure to arrive EARLY for your 11:00 tour. We (husband, self, two daughters, ages 11 and 13) arrived on time (11:00 exactly by their wall clock), and the tour had already left at 10:55! We missed the beginning of it and the introductions, and I felt a little at sea for the rest of the tour. That said, we loved our tour of NPR headquarters! It was amazing! Studios, offices, NPR music, tech repair, the library, tape cold storage... Very in-depth and with an extremely knowledgable employee who's been there over 25 years. Even my children enjoyed it; they hear NPR at home all the time. If you tend to get a little star-struck and wobbly, think ahead of what questions you might want to ask in various departments. I adore NPR and was so happy to be walking around seeing everything that I did not think of questions until after the tour was over. We even saw Guy Raz doing an interview with author N. D. Wilson. His publicist gave my daughters boxing monkey patches from the new book, and afterward the author talked with them for a long time in front of the building. They are building a new headquarters, and I hope there will be a gift shop. I had planned to buy a hat, a t-shirt, car window decal and a license plate frame at the gift shop, but none were available for purchase there (no shipping fee!). Also, I'd like more art work (photos of NPR enployees in action/historic NPR moments?) on the walls (like the West Wing of the White House has). For an organization that I perceive as being extremely friendly to the arts, I was very surprised by all the blank walls. read more

I'm bummed they stopped doing tours after the shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis but I understand their reasoning to protect staff. I don't want to lose any NPR staff to another shooter. NPR staff are a national treasure and need to feel secure to do the important work they do every day. read more

My heart is crushed... I came out of my way to visit NPR headquarters! The tours were cancelled (this was ok because i saw that in previous reviews) but the Gift Shop was CLOSED! They don't open until after I go back to San Diego. I love NPR and wish I could support them and spread the word of their importance. Maybe next time I visit DC. read more

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Fascinating field trip ever have since primary school! On the third floor there is more likely to be designed as an open space overlooking from the fourth floor. Visited fifth floor for controlling center and real live studio. Every corner is receiving live sounds from hosts, sending to every car space. Having internship here will definitely be valuable and precious as being welcomed!! read more

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My friend and I had a great tour of the NPR headquarters last week. They offer tours M-F at 11am--advance sign up required. The tour is more comprehensive than we imagined it would be--we were permitted to walk around the news floor and see some of our favorite NPR personalities! It took about an hour, and we learned a lot about the organization. Our guide was a recently-hiredintern (not the woman who typically gives the tours), so she wasn't able to answer all of the group's questions, but she was very friendly. Their building is quite modern and beautiful as well. Afterwards, we walked over to Union Market for a great lunch! NPR Tour + Union Market makes for a great afternoon. Go for it! read more

The NPR tour is SO GREAT. We saw inside one of the studios (and got to take action shots of us pretending to work the sound boards, which I loved...because I have the mental maturity of 10-year-old), we saw Lakshmi Singh (from a distance), and a band setting up for a Tiny Desk concert. I think any avid NPR fans would get a kick out of the tour. Our tour guide, Amy, was super knowledgeable and very friendly and open to questions. read more

The best of the best podcasts and radio shows that resides at the center of creativity and being human. I've been listening and supporting since 2004 and had to take a moment to support NPR here. read more

This is the ultimate tour for all NPR fans and nerds out there. If you're in DC, I highly recommend making a reservation and joining a volunteer docent led tour. The tour included the newsroom, studios, and the distribution center (I want an egg chair now!). If you can't get a tour, you can at least enjoy the lobby which has story boards, and will eventually have video and audio as part of the display. And the gift shop is open to the public. Warning-- it was hard to resist all the branded t-shirts and mugs. Can't wait to go back for their Christmas sale. Only downside, you can't eat in the cafeteria... which is for staff only. read more

Very disappointing, and I say that as a big fan and supporter of NPR. In general, I think the kind of people who would show up for this are passionate fans, so I felt like it was a real wasted opportunity to further engage and excite us (and inspire donations). The tour started late and went well over an hour (contrary to what it says on the info we got). It basically consisted of slowly walking around the headquarters and stopping to look at five not-very-engaging views--the green rooftop (a very nice feature but not warranting a 10-minute stop and pretty unrelated to NPR's mission and what brought us there), the newsroom (basically looking at people working quietly in their cubes), an empty production/control room, the half empty server room (literally just shelves and wiring), and a fifth stop we missed. We were about an hour and 20 minutes in at this point and really bored so we just left, saying we had a flight to catch. And we weren't the first to bail--we ran into two others from our group who'd already left in the gift shop. The gift shop was by far the high point, although everything is probably available online. A thriving media operation has so many opportunities to make a tour entertaining, and this just did not deliver. How about showing us how a story or program is put together or edited? How a producer and reporter work together? How a live program handles breaking news on the fly? Even just a video of the ATC or Morning Edition anchors helming a broadcast would have been interesting. I guess I'd say the major failure was that the tour didn't tell a story at all. I'm sure the tour leader is good at his actual job, but he wasn't a good tour guide. He was totally unscripted, and not in a good way--just sharing incoherent tidbits as they came to him. Well, I did learn that Neal Conan and Lianne Hanson are now divorced--I guess that's something. If asked, I'd advise fellow news junkies and media mavens to skip NPR and head to the Newseum., which has something for everyone, including several interactive exhibits. It's $20 but really worth it (and I think the ticket is good for two days). We spent more than 3 hours there, didn't even see everything, and left very satisfied. We even learned some things. read more

We have now been to D.C. three times and this tour is one not to be missed! It is Informative & fun AND we got to see a tiny desk concert with James Mercer of the Shins. read more

Tour of NPR is not to be missed. Met the great Bob Mondello. Saw Corva Coleman and Lakshmi Singh. And saw a tiny desk concert featuring James Mercer of The Shins. read more