When St. Louis Public Radio wanted to host the region’s first live town hall on August 28 to discuss Michael Brown’s murder and the explosive events after, it’s no surprise they asked Michel Martin to moderate. Part of the job that Thursday evening in Wellspring Church would mean mediating–and there’s no media personality better at hosting tough conversations and bridging chasm-like divides than Martin. The former host of "Tell Me More," which ended this August after seven years on air, took the other seat in a recent and intimate hour-long interview with Krista Tippett. She hosts the excellent radio program, "On Being," which very often touches on the role of faith in her subject’s lives. The talk is wide-ranging, from Martin’s growing up in Brooklyn, to dealing with her younger brother’s suicide and her role as a journalist in a society that struggles still with talking about race and difference.

Listen above. And if you don’t already regularly listen to "On Being," get on that.