That’s Bruce Barber between me and Mark Oppenheimer, and Brian Slattery is on the right.
I recently had the pleasure of throwing in my two cents on cultural news of the week as a panelist for WNPR’s Colin McEnroe show. Mark Oppenheimer, a new friend and writer of a regular column in the New York Times, guest hosted the program from New Haven (it’s usually in Hartford) and invited me to join him. Hey, anytime I get to hang out with smart people and talk about the world, I’m all in. We covered those frat boys in Oklahoma (and the behavior of college students in general), and the marvelous new Netflix show created by Tina Fey, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” which, surprisingly, I admire. Here’s the link to a recording so you can listen in. At the end you’ll hear me endorse new books by two Connecticut authors: The Listener, a novel by Rachel Basch, and The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead by Bonnie Marcus.
I’ve had a few people ask me about whether the show was rehearsed because, as you’ll hear, it runs quite smoothly. No “Um’s” or “Uh’s” to be found. But you can’t rehearse live radio. We knew the topics going in and that’s about it. You can’t really prepare exactly what to say beforehand because you have no idea how the conversation will flow. The best way for me to prepare is to know what I think about the topics so when I speak I can articulate a clear point of view. These were the 3 intentions I set for myself going into the studio:
1.) Be present and listen well so I can offer useful thoughts to the conversation.
2.) Support local women writers. (I knew I would have an opportunity to make endorsements.)
3.) Enjoy my time with my friends in the studio.
What difference would these intentions make? The first helps the host and the producers so they can do their job well of creating a good radio show. The second allows me to use this great opportunity to provide exposure for sister writers so more people can benefit from their excellent work. The third allows me to take care of myself and remember to have fun. I think I fulfilled all three intentions and I’m still buzzing with the good energy of having done so. I’m truly grateful. I’ll let you know when I have the chance to do the show again so you can tune in and even call in live.
Blessings and Best Wishes,
