In the next three years, with John Templeton Foundation (JTF) support, "On Being" will create a total of 30 episodes — 18 new episodes and 12 rebroadcast episodes — that will equip an expansive cross-section of modern people to see the relevance and engage the dynamic, constructive interplay between scientific questions and discovery, deep thinking and research, and the big questions of meaning and purpose in individual and communal life. Each episode will be produced for our 51-minute Peabody Award winning broadcast and podcast, but will also be disseminated via multiple and growing platforms — our Webby Award-winning website, social media channels, blog posts, and occasional live events.
Each episode will reach millions of listeners, readers, and viewers, making sophisticated voices and ideas of science and the big questions available and accessible beyond specialty science/religion/philosophy audiences. Based on the impact we track qualitatively and quantitatively in an ongoing way, we also know that this body of work will be transformative in widening circles over time, finding its way into substantive conversations in families and communities, sermons and study groups in religious communities, diverse classroom settings, and teaching and training in service organizations, non-profits and other places of vocation and mission.
A portion of this funding will also support the growth and deepening of "On Being’s" digital capacities, which will in turn enable us to amplify the reach and impact of past and present JTF-supported content. "On Being’s" podcast was downloaded 28 million times in 2016, up from 6 million in 2013, the year we transitioned to independent non-profit production. The full-scale rebuild of our digital architecture underway will enable us to create expansive new touch points with diverse audiences and deepen engagement with and application of our entire archive of JTF-supported content into the future.
