When I hear the word radio, I think there’s an old connotation is attached to it.  Rarely is it used to describe what you listen to in your car..It’s now “Sirius” or mp3 players.  When someone like me, a broke college student who doesn’t have that fancy stuff in her car, listens to the radio or a talk show host, I never think about the technicalities of broadcasting.

To learn more on broadcasting, I listened to Ira Glass on Storytelling: Parts 1 & 2.

Mr. Glass stated that there are 2 basic building blocks of broadcasting: anecdotes and a moment of reflection.  He describes anecdotes as a sequence of actions; a story in its purest form.  Such as when someone is sharing what they did that day, they speak in such a way as: “And then this happened..and this..then that..etc.”  It seems to me that this form of storytelling is more personal because it’s not a script and details are made up as you go.  The second building block, moments of reflection, are those instances when you can answer what the meaning or point of a story is.  A story with no meaning is not a successful one.

I listened to Mr. Glass by only listening to his voice, since he is known for his broadcasting abilities. His voice kept my attention and he got his points across fast, since he usually only has his voice to keep the listener hooked.  Mr. Glass varied his voice by loudness, kept it animated, and used pauses to keep my attention.

Mr. Glass mentioned in his second video that everything people put on tape is “crap”…I don’t agree with his stance here.  I believe it depends on the opinion of whoever’s watching/listening and their personal stake in it.  Such as home videos.  They might be “crap” to others, but they are treasured memories to the family who they involve.

To hear a different take on radios and broadcasting, I then listened to Radiolab‘s Jad Abumrad in “How Radio Creates Empathy”.

Mr. Abumrad said that the coolest thing about radio is what it lacks: pictures.  I never thought too much into this, but I like this idea.  As much as I love movies and TV, I love books more because each individual can make up their own version of what’s happening using their imagination.  I think Mr. Abumrad was saying the same thing about radio.  Each listener pictures something different when a broadcaster describes a scene, so each image is different to the individual.

The one thing I don’t agree on with Mr. Abumrad, is that he believes there’s an intimacy between the broadcaster and the one listening.  I don’t feel that intimacy or connection when listening to radio shows..Instead, I feel a gap or distance between myself and the host, because unlike the stories he’s telling, he is real, and I don’t like creating a face for someone who already has one.  I like to know what people look like when I hear them talking.  It’s just something the brain associates.  When you hear a friend’s voice in a crowd, you immediately think of their face.