MADISON – Kate Archer Kent is the new permanent host of “The Morning Show,” Wisconsin Public Radio announced today.
Listeners might be familiar with Kent as she had been fill-in host previously.
“Kate brings passion to this role,” said Kealey Bultena, executive producer of “The Morning Show,” in a WPR news release. “It’s a marvelous bonus to her fierce journalistic integrity and on-air skills. She shows respect for colleagues and callers alike, and her steady voice will help us engage with people who wouldn’t otherwise pick up the phone, send an email, or hit tweet. With a dedicated production team and Kate at the mic, ‘The Morning Show’ is poised to discuss topics that encompass the diversity Wisconsin provides and that put our state in greater context.” Kent’s first day hosting will be Dec. 3.
Kent arrived at WPR in 2016 from Shreveport, Louisiana, where she reported for Red River Radio and hosted “Morning Edition.” She spent two years in a “pinch hitter” position, working across WPR’s two networks, filling in for talk show hosts on The Ideas Network and the news magazine hosts on the NPR News and Classical Music Network. She served as interim host of “The Morning Show” starting in October 2017. She and the team put together shows about community, science, politics, nature, money, space, and much more. In June 2018, she was named executive producer of “The Larry Meiller Show” and manager on The Ideas Network, overseeing the editorial flow of the shows and network quality standards.
Kent covered the economic repercussions of the BP oil spill, followed a family as they coped with the closure of the Shreveport General Motors plant, and walked in the footsteps of a wildcatter negotiating where to drill during the Haynesville Shale natural gas boom. Kent holds a master of journalism degree from Temple University and a B.A. in English and political science from the University of Minnesota, Morris.
“The Morning Show” airs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on The Ideas Network.
Photo courtesy WPR.
