Bill Moyers, a PBS icon who has been called one of our greatest contemporary progressive journalist and thinkers, retires his weekly public affairs series on PBS at the end of the month. The final episode of Bill Moyers Journal, airs Friday April 30th at 8 p.m. on KUED. It will be 90 minutes long.

Moyers, 75, said he had been planning for some time to retire the program, but PBS persuaded him to stay longer than he’d planned. He says he intends to take it a little easier, beginning in May.

Now on PBS, which was originally hosted by Moyers and is now hosted by David Brancaccio, will also air its final episode on April 30.

Replacing that respected public affairs lineup on Friday nights will be Need to Know, part of PBS’ “reinvention” of its news and public affairs programming. The new hour-long series, which has a heavy online interactive component, is being billed as “what smart and busy people need to know.”

Need to Know, which premieres Friday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m., will take the top stories of the week and put them in context, offering a deeper understanding of the issues of our times. It will also include the return of reporting “beats”–the economy, the environment and energy, health, security, and culture.