TAL Radio Love?
So anyone who knows me any better than just "okay" will know that i'm a huge npr and bbc nerd.
This probably started happening around 9/11 when i was looking for journalism that was unbiased sounding.
One of the shows that seemed to provide a lot of the antithesis to soundbyte-only media was This American Life.
The first time I heard it I thought, this guy (Ira glass) sounds like a stereotypically "Whiny Jewish kid." (Which is, by the way, how he describes himself.)
The more I listened to him though I became more endeared to his slightly effiminate voice and contagious laughter. The ingenuity of the stories. Perhaps I was getting something like the girl from the song "With David Bowie" by Veruca Salt. Somewhat infatuated with him, but more infatuated by the power of his voice over the radio??
So when this past year they decided to move TAL to new york, I was like FINALLY NEW YORK IS GOING TO HAVE A WORTHWHILE NPR SHOW. And omg! They actually have the new york address listed on the website?
Maybe I'll completely nerd it up and just go for fun to the front of the building with a sign that says "I <3 you Ira" (Although i don't really mean it, cos i'm wicked scared of his wife kicking my arse.) Or maybe, just maybe I could catch a glimpse of him riding uptown on the subway and get him to sign that carefully tucked away New Yorker article about the TAL move?
How would I recognize him if he was on the street or the subway?
Hmm. Puzzled by this, i decided i would go and find the highest resolution image of his face and photoshop out his trademark nerd glasses.
And... and?
When you take away the comical Buddy Holly frames, he looks every bit the middle aged Jewish man that he is. No stunning news anchor good looks. No overtly stereotypical face made for radio. He's plain. Ordinary. The magic is gone.
I'm ready to move to San Francisco now.
This probably started happening around 9/11 when i was looking for journalism that was unbiased sounding.
One of the shows that seemed to provide a lot of the antithesis to soundbyte-only media was This American Life.
The first time I heard it I thought, this guy (Ira glass) sounds like a stereotypically "Whiny Jewish kid." (Which is, by the way, how he describes himself.)
The more I listened to him though I became more endeared to his slightly effiminate voice and contagious laughter. The ingenuity of the stories. Perhaps I was getting something like the girl from the song "With David Bowie" by Veruca Salt. Somewhat infatuated with him, but more infatuated by the power of his voice over the radio??
So when this past year they decided to move TAL to new york, I was like FINALLY NEW YORK IS GOING TO HAVE A WORTHWHILE NPR SHOW. And omg! They actually have the new york address listed on the website?
Maybe I'll completely nerd it up and just go for fun to the front of the building with a sign that says "I <3 you Ira" (Although i don't really mean it, cos i'm wicked scared of his wife kicking my arse.) Or maybe, just maybe I could catch a glimpse of him riding uptown on the subway and get him to sign that carefully tucked away New Yorker article about the TAL move?
How would I recognize him if he was on the street or the subway?
Hmm. Puzzled by this, i decided i would go and find the highest resolution image of his face and photoshop out his trademark nerd glasses.
And... and?
When you take away the comical Buddy Holly frames, he looks every bit the middle aged Jewish man that he is. No stunning news anchor good looks. No overtly stereotypical face made for radio. He's plain. Ordinary. The magic is gone.
I'm ready to move to San Francisco now.