Public Radio Redux

So you want to sound like Ira Glass. Here's a hint: Don't bother. If you really want to have a successful career in radio, you better find your own voice.

The idea that people sound best when they stop trying to imitate someone else is ubiquitous. It's practically a fact. Nearly every radio conference has a session on "Finding Your Own Voice." If you ask a radio pro for advice, they'll almost always tell you to "just be yourself." I've heard it so many times that I was surprised to learn that it sprung from the mind of just one man - David Candow.

Yesterday's Washington Post ran a feature on "The Host Whisperer", the guy who's responsible for much of NPR's sound. David Candow has coached everyone from Ari Shapiro to Scott Simon and his advice is so simple that it sounds like common sense:

- Don't imitate. You'll sound fake.
- Write like you talk. If you wouldn't say something in real life, don't say it on the radio.
- Leave your adjectives at home. Let your verbs do the talking.
- Pretend your having a conversation with someone, not announcing anything.

These rules are a tremendous departure from the "voice of God" newscaster of decades past. And yet, any young broadcaster worth his/her salt swears by them. Well done, Mr. Candow.

If Bryant Park Project taught NPR anything, it's that listeners like blogs. Especially young people. We love those blogs. We like to read and comment and enjoy the dinner party credibility boost of saying, "I heard on NPR..." -- just like adults!

In that sprit, NPR has launched two new blogs. The first is a pop culture blog (ugh - pop culture! how unsophisticated. oh wait, I secretly love the stuff). Linda Holmes is a very clever attorney-turned-MSNBC.com blogger. I was entertained by the venn diagram explaining the name of her new blog for NPR, Monkey See. Also, her dire warning against Rainn Wilson's new movie was greatly appreciated. While it's clear she's never watched an episode of Gilmore Girls, I'll definitely be adding her to my RSS reader.

The second new blog is from Rob Sachs, host of one of my favorite alt.NPR shows What Would Rob Do?. Rob's funny, honest and completely irreverent. I could go for more Rob in my day. While the first few posts haven't been stellar, I'm holding out hope. Rob Sachs is NPR's moral compass and I know he won't let us down. Let the pithy, NPR-worthy comments begin!

When you turn on Weekend America this weekend, things will sound a bit different. Sure, you could chalk it up to summer, when NPR hosts play musical chairs with their hosting duties. But a delightfully solo John Moe is what we'll hear from now on on American Public Media's Weekend America.

For about a year, hosting duties have been split between Bill Radke in Los Angeles and Desiree Cooper in St. Paul. It was an odd combination. The geographical distance made co-host banter a challenge. While both are top-notch hosts, sometimes it sounded like they'd never met. The show's real highlights included sound-rich pieces from indie producers as well as John Moe's weekly "weather" report, a tongue-in-cheek rundown of quirky events across the country. If you liked that segment, stay tuned for all John Moe, all the time, since he'll be taking over as the show's solo host this weekend.

Sadly, it looks like Bill Radke will be leaving the show. Too bad, I liked his style. Desiree Cooper will stay on as Senior Correspondent from her home in Detroit - good news for the environment, since she's been commuting to St. Paul for almost a year.

Well, goodbye Bill Radke. You will be missed. But I look forward to hearing more of John Moe's wit and creativity each weekend.

Every city and most small towns have at least one - a place where you can pick up a hot dog, slather on some mustard, and have a little chat with the owner. Most of these street vendors have carts with wheels, so they can pack it up and can find a new corner when business gets slow. But not Mark's Hot Dogs. Mark has locked his wheels at the same corner of Portland, Maine's bustling Old Port for the past 25 years.

Chances are, you've walked by a cart like Mark's a million times, but Salt alumns Kelly Creedon and Annie Larmo give us reason to stop. Listen in as they spend the day with Mark, using photographs and sound to capture the community he's created -- a group of folks who meet at the same corner, day after day, because they crave some casual banter and a cold soda. In this world of cell phones and Facebook friends, it's reassuring to see that something as simple as hot dogs can bring people together.

* To view this thoughtful, well produced multimedia piece, visit: http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/multimedia/
Be sure to click on 25 Years of Mark's Hot Dogs towards the middle of the page.

When I was 10, my 3rd grade class had a "buddy class" in Russia. We sent them pictures and letters on cool air mail stationary and they sent us stories about their puppies and siblings in strange, slanted English.

It turns out that Third Coast has their own Russian "buddy" festival, Vmeste Radio (”Radio Together”) Festival. Third Coast's Managing Director Julie Shapiro blogged about her recent visit to the land of vodka and fur hats on the Chicago Public Radio Blog (a great blog, if you haven't already checked it out).

Indie radio producers in Russia are documenting their lives, cities, and neighbors on a PRX-like podcast site called Podstansiya. It's all in Russian, so you better dig out your Russian-to-English dictionary. And if you prefer your foreign exchange to be in-person, some top notch Russian producers will be making their way to Chicago for an upcoming Third Coast Festival soon. All of this makes me wish I remembered more than just "hello" in this rough, melodic language.

Yes, I've been kinda quiet lately, but don't worry, I haven't joined a mutant race of verbal washing machines. I've been busy finishing up the first in a series of radio pieces about biotech. When did you become a science reporter, you ask? The day WFAE said they needed one.

In many ways, not having a slew of science degrees has really helped my science reporting. For instance, I'll never use the phrase DeNovo Sequencing without a pithy real-life analogy to keep science-phobes from turning off the radio. And I'm also oddly delighted to learn that enzymes are what make our laundry detergent work (hence the washing machine solo I'm recording here).

Not knowing all that much about science definitely requires lots of research and quite a bit of pondering - I've stayed up late many nights wondering how the heck a vaccine can get inside a soybean - but knowing more about how the world works is always fun, even if it does involve reaching deep into my brain for those bio notes I've long since forgotten.

* Amusing side note: our new high-efficiency washing machine doesn't make that "whooosh" sound I was hoping for. Instead, it makes a seriously pathetic trickle with a bit of a hum. I had to loop that sucker five times to make it sound like a washing machine. Damn you technology.

If you were one of the nearly 1,500 radio wanna-be's who sent a two minute snippet of your best "hostiness" to the Public Radio Talent Quest last spring, you'll want to check out the three winners.

Their pilot shows are in the works, but you can get a sneak peak in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's super cool video they posted on that You Tube thing.

Dig that funky music! And a big congratulations to Al, Glynn, and Majora.

The New York Times has been doing some pretty snazzy multimedia work lately. Its audio slide shows (while hidden away in the nooks and crannies of its online edition) are a shining example of the power of sound and photography.

Check out Erin's latest contribution to the Times' growing multimedia archive. Hear that crystal clear sound at the beginning? That's all Erin.

Listen Here!

Zooey Deschanel's voice is haunting - simple and old fashioned. I love listening to her sing, perhaps more than I like watching her on screen. And yet, every time she does a radio interview with her musical collaborator M.Ward (who happens to be the other half of her duo She and Him), M.Ward doesn't do much talking. Which is a shame, because, well... Zooey is kind of an awkward interview.

But hearing veteran producer Steve Lillywhite give us the post-production play-by-play is pretty interesting. He's seen everyone from U2 to The Pogues waltz through his studio and his take on this actress-turned-chaunteuse is spot on. She does have a beautiful voice. She is a little shy. But that doesn't stop me from loving She and Him's new album (and coveting her incredible hair).

In 1945, a man named Tony Schwartz picked up a portable tape recorder, moved the VU meter to the top, and attached a strap. Recorded sound was never the same.

Schwartz was agoraphobic. He couldn't leave his postal code in NYC, so he wandered the neighborhood with a microphone up his sleeve or attached to his collar. Children jumping rope, taxi drivers ranting, music streaming from juke boxes all bled together to form an audio tribute to his city. Years later, Schwartz became audio pen pals with sound-lovers from near and far, bringing the sounds of the world to his mailbox. He also created some of this country's most iconic advertising. No small feat for a man afraid to leave his block.

If you do nothing else today, listen to this beautiful retrospective of Schwartz by The Kitchen Sisters. It's the first piece every radio student at Salt listens to. Then buy yourself the cheapest recorder you can find and carry it with you. Think of Schwartz and be amazed by how differently you hear the world.