LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Today, we say goodbye to a person who has led our show day in and day out for three years. And it's a goodbye we really don't want to make.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
But we must because today is our executive producer, Erika Aguilar's, last day. She has guided our staff of editors, producers and hosts through an avalanche of news, from the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the Israel-Gaza War and, of course, a consequential U.S. presidential election that we all just lived through.
FADEL: But before we go any further, I want all our co-hosts to send our appreciation together, so Steve and A are here, as well. Hey, guys.
STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning.
A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: Hello.
FADEL: Good morning.
MARTIN: OK, so tell us - what's your favorite Erika memory? Steve, do you want to start?
INSKEEP: Oh, my goodness. It's her passion. I can't give a specific story, except she's always present. She always cares. She's interested in learning continuously and has been totally focused on transforming this decades-old program.
MARTIN: A, what about you?
MARTÍNEZ: Well, my thing is - so I remember she had just been on the job a few months, and I had written a return about how Snoop Dogg pays someone $50,000 to roll his blunts.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: And I wrote in a line how I wouldn't do that, but for half that, I would pour out his gin and juice.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: And Erika and I got into this very long Slack battle because I wanted to keep all that, and she said, no, no, no...
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: ...That's not the way an NPR host should present himself.
FADEL: Erika, always reining you in.
MARTÍNEZ: Right, and she won. She won, but I realized that she cares. She cares about us, the show and how we present ourselves to the world. So that's when I got my first idea of who Erika Aguilar is.
FADEL: For me, it's not the phone calls I would get - like, go to Ukraine or, go cover the Israel-Gaza war. It's actually going into her office right after the show and sitting there and speaking deeply about the voices that are missing, what else we need to do.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
FADEL: It's that same sense of passion where I'm like, Erika is in it with us, with us, the hosts, but also with all of our editors and producers who make this incredible show every single weekday.
MARTIN: Well, you know, to that end about being in it, my favorite memory is we had a town hall in Ferguson, Missouri, which, as you might imagine, you know, was kind of tense.
INSKEEP: I remember.
FADEL: Yeah.
MARTIN: It was the tenth anniversary of the death of Michael Brown in a police encounter. A member of the audience literally started screaming during the event at members of the panel and calling them names, making some very sort of personal remarks about them and their perceived, you know, politics and so forth. And Erika jumped up and grabbed a mic, and ran over there. And I thought, wow, OK. She's a newswoman.
INSKEEP: OK...
MARTIN: She knows what's up.
INSKEEP: ...Recording the event.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
MARTIN: She knows what's up, so...
FADEL: She's like, we need to get this on tape. Yeah.
MARTIN: So that is my favorite memory. So, obviously, we all wish her well.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
FADEL: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
MARTIN: And we're just, you know, really excited for her next chapter.
FADEL: But one thing.
MARTIN: Go ahead, Leila.
FADEL: But one thing I don't understand about Erika - she loves Mondays.
INSKEEP: Yes.
FADEL: Which...
INSKEEP: And working.
FADEL: And working.
INSKEEP: And working in the middle of the night.
FADEL: Yeah.
INSKEEP: So, I mean, I don't know where that comes from.
MARTIN: I didn't get that memo (laughter).
INSKEEP: I don't - no. No.
MARTIN: Yeah, I didn't get that. I didn't get that gene.
INSKEEP: I mean, there are different ways to be a manager. But part of her job as manager, as she sees it, is to show up - to show up, which is 90% of life, they say.
FADEL: And she makes us better for it. Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: I'm still expecting a Slack from her at some point over the next few months.
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: Exactly. Months from now, A, you're a little behind.
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: A little less gin and juice, please.
MARTÍNEZ: Right.
MARTIN: OK, Steve, A, Leila. Erika, we're going to miss you a lot, and we wish you well on this next chapter.
FADEL: We'll miss you. Goodbye.
MARTÍNEZ: We'll miss you.
INSKEEP: Hasta pronto.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMO LA FLOR")
SELENA: (Singing in Spanish). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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