So, this week we were asked to watch a series of four videos by Ira Glass, followed by an interview with Jad Abumrad. Here are my views on both of these videos;

Ira Glass’s video was extremely informative. He explained, in his own words, the reasons many radio casts excel/fail. His key point he brought up was that there are two fundamental building blocks to doing a radio broadcast. You have to have a clear story that you can work off of, and a reason that that story is relevant. If you don’t, your radio broadcast will fail. Glass goes on to explain that most of the time, broadcasts will have a fantastic anecdote, and no moment of reflection.

Glass explains that most people think that the most time consuming part of a radio broadcast in the production/editing time. He disagrees and says that the most time consuming part is finding something relevant to talk about. His views on why most casts fail made me laugh. He said that most radio personalities are trying too hard to emulate people they saw on TV or film. Being yourself is the main rule you need to remember for a radio broadcast. He also said that someone who only talks about their own personal life is a reason that someone wouldn’t make a good radio host.

Abumrad gives us another view into storytelling over the radio. He explains how he can create an image in his mind just by listening to a broadcast. I don’t know how he does this. I get bored listening to most people talk. I love pictures.

These two men both have extremely brilliant minds and I would love to learn more from Ira Glass about storytelling over the radio. His witty commentary made me laugh and tune into the video the whole time. This is an accomplishment.