About Ken Stern

Ken Stern, founder and chair

Ken Stern is the Founder and Chair of the Longevity Project, which fosters public conversation and research on the impact on longer lives on civil society, and engages a global audience through events, research and newsletters. Stern is also the host of the award-winning podcast Century Lives, from the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Stern is the author of the recently released book Healthy to 100: How Strong Social Ties Lead To Long Lives (PublicAffairs 2025). He is also the national best-selling author of Republican Like Me (HarperCollins 2017) and With Charity for All (Doubleday 2013).

He is also a regular contributor to a diverse group of publications such as Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He is also the CEO of Palisades Media Ventures, a Washington D.C. based thought leadership company.

Stern was previously the CEO of National Public Radio. During his tenure, NPR’s audience more than doubled, to more than 26 million weekly listeners. Among his achievements at NPR was the launch of NPR’s award-winning podcast service, as well as NPR Music, mobile offerings, and the successful expansion of NPR.org. During a period of significant retrenchment at major news outlets, Stern led the dramatic expansion of NPR News, both domestically and abroad, and its evolution as a key daily news source to tens of millions of people.

Prior to joining NPR, Stern was a senior executive in American International Broadcasting. Earlier in his career, he held positions in Democratic politics. He began his media career with Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty in Munich. Stern, a lawyer by training, holds degrees from Haverford College and Yale Law School. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife Beth Cooper and their son Nate.