1A is an American radio talk show produced by WAMU in Washington, D.C. and distributed nationally by NPR. The show debuted on January 2, 2017, airing on more than 340 NPR member stations in 35 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is also heard on Sirius XM on channel 122 several times each weekday. Journalist Joshua Johnson served as the program's host from 2017 to 2019, before leaving to work for MSNBC. Todd Zwillich replaced him as interim host in January 2020. He was succeeded in this capacity by Sasha-Ann Simons in April. Celeste Headlee also serves as an interim guest host. On May 7, WAMU announced that Jennifer White would succeed Johnson as permanent host of 1A beginning in July.
Format
The show airs live Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon ET, but some local stations air it at a later time. Several stations air a one-hour curated version of the program that is produced each day, intended for broadcast in an afternoon/evening time slot. The show debuted on 169 stations in January 2017, and by March of that year, it had expanded to over 200 stations. The program's title refers to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Hosts
Former host Joshua Johnson is a native of West Palm Beach, Florida. He graduated from the University of Miami and worked for WLRN and the Miami Herald between 2004 and 2010. From 2010 to 2016, he was morning news host of KQED in San Francisco, a position he left to develop a radio project series entitled Truth Be Told, of which four episodes were broadcast nationally. He substituted for Diane Rehm for two days on her talk show in September 2016, and in November, Rehm announced that Johnson would be taking over her time slot. On November 22, Johnson announced his departure at the end of 2019 to host a show on MSNBC. Todd Zwillich served as interim host from January through the end of March 2020, leaving the program to join Vice News. He was succeeded as interim host by Sasha-Ann Simons, who has been "reporting on issues of race, identity, and economic mobility for WAMU" since 2017. On May 7, it was announced that Jennifer White would take over as permanent host of the program beginning in July.
