Radio Faces

Radio Faces celebrates public radio and the people who make it possible. WGLT will celebrate 20 years of Radio Faces on Thursday evening, Oct. 30, 2025.

This year’s headliner is NPR’s Steve Inskeep. Inskeep was the inaugural Radio Faces speaker in 2005 and has spent the last 20 years at NPR as a Morning Edition host, as well as a host of the Up First podcast. Inskeep’s first full-time assignment was the 1996 presidential primary in New Hampshire. He went on to cover the Pentagon, the Senate, and the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he covered the war in Afghanistan, turmoil in Pakistan, and the war in Iraq.

Inskeep is an award-winning journalist, and the author of several books including Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America. Inskeep is a Midwest native who hails from Carmel, Indiana, and attended Morehead State University in Kentucky.

Radio Faces includes a VIP reception and networking with the WGLT team and Steve Inskeep, plus an elegant dinner, and a lively presentation and audience Q&A. Inskeep will reflect on our rapidly changing world and news environment, his approach to slow down the news, and why he’s still inspired each day to laugh to keep from crying as poet Langston Hughes suggests.

More about Steve Inskeep

• Steve’s bio

Stories and podcasts

• Steve Inskeep in conversation with Pete Buttigieg
• Lansing, Michigan mayor talks to Steve Inskeep about GM and tariffs
• Steve Inskeep in conversation with Steve Bannon
• More by Steve Inskeep

Dinner menu

An elegant three-course dinner will feature:

Fall salad: arugula, spinach, candied pecans, apples, craisins, and goat cheese

Two meat entrées to choose from:

• Herb crusted stuffed chicken breast – butter, garlic, and panko stuffed chicken breast topped with a roasted cream garlic sauce
• Crab crusted cod – oven roasted seasoned fillet of cod with crab crust served with a champagne dill cream sauce

Vegan entrée: Sweet potato rice bowl – roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, and citrus cilantro rice

Roasted root vegetables: Brussel sprouts, beets, carrots, and turnips
Garlic mashed potatoes with sage gravy

Dessert: Mixed berry and apple cobblers plus coffee service

Individual tickets are available at two levels:

• VIP reception, dinner & presentation (with event entry at 6 p.m.): $160
• Dinner & presentation (with event entry at 7 p.m.): $110

There are no physical tickets for this event. Please contact WGLT if you experience complications on our website and/or purchase tickets but do not receive a confirmation email.

Full and half-table sponsorships are available by contacting Corporate Support Director Anna Chumbley at awchumb@ilstu.edu or 309-438-4648.

Event schedule

• 6-7 p.m.: VIP reception
• 7-8 p.m.: Dinner
• 8-9 p.m.: Program and Q&A with Steve Inskeep