October 2011
7 posts
Play
Play
Play
Play
Play
"That hipster cop." →
cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
Someone asked me if I was “that hipster cop.” At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about. And then I read the above article. Oh dear.
September 2011
3 posts
Seeing a radio voice in person.
As someone who does radio things, I have occasionally met people who have only heard my voice, and not seen it directly coming out of my mouth. I find these interactions usually disconcerting, because:
a) I think that my voice is much more impressive and assured than my body language (I never know what to do with my hands, and I used to wear a lot of clothes that didn’t fit)
and
b) People usually comment that I “look different from how I sound”, which usually means they are disappointed. (I went on a single date with someone who only knew me from the radio, which was disastrous - I do not wish to elaborate on this point)
More than anything, I am a huge consumer of radio. I used to listen to about 20 hours a week, though I will have to cut back now with grad school work. And I am almost always surprised to see a voice that I have mentally created a person around coming out of some other body I hadn’t visualized. (This last sentence makes sense, right?)
Today, I attended a panel hosted by Sam Tanenhaus, who also hosts the excellent New York Times Book Review podcast. I had deliberately not looked him up before now, for the reason that he might contradict the image of him I had built up in my mind. As it turns out, he is almost exactly how I had mentally pictured him. This has never happened before.
(For reference, here he is, appearing on Charlie Rose)
Here is my question - why do we create images of people we only know from hearing them? This is not just for radio listeners - I also develop images of people who I have only communicated with via email, or whose writing I have read in some other medium. This is common, right? I’m not alone on this one?
The Falling Man. →
esquire.com
In re: September 11th, I’ve been getting a number of emails from concerned parties on the topic. It’s strange to be in New York for the anniversary, given that everything I know about the event was mediated by the news in one form or another.
In that spirit, here’s an article we discussed in class this week from Esquire. It’s a fascinating look at the difference between reporting and rubber-necking, and how difficult it can be to separate the two during a crisis. Enjoy!
“You know, you have a great voice. You would be a great hypnotist.”
—A new classmate of mine, saying perhaps the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. This is also a neat variation on “you have a great voice, you should do radio.”
August 2011
3 posts
Hey, Canada! I know that.
Since moving here, I have spoken to quite a few people from other countries (in part because I’m in a program dominated by students from abroad, and in part because I live in a student apartment complex called ‘international house’).
Upon meeting them, many of my new friends have been excited to discover that I’m from Canada. I’m coming to realize that this is because people from outside the United States see Canada as some kind of tabula rasa onto which they can project their own national anxieties.
This is manifested by people saying ‘You know, Canada is a lot like my country, (X) because of (Y)’. Here are a few of those statements I have heard from other people so far:
- Canada is like Australia because our relationship with England is like yours with the United States.
- Canada is like New Zealand because our relationship with Australia is like yours with the United States.
- Canada is like Belgium because we have two language solitudes too!
- Canada is like Switzerland because everyone likes us internationally and we don’t really deserve it.
- Canada is like Ireland/Wales/Scotland because we are always trying to identify ourselves in some way.
- Canada is like India because of our relationship to Pakistan (I should have paid more attention during this explanation, but it was decidedly anti-Pakistan).
- Canada is like Iraq (I stopped the speaker here, because no, it’s not).
Longshot Radio →
radio.longshotmag.com
Because of my years of semi-professional radio experience, I was conscripted to help with their podcast project, which was put together by some people from the New York public radio world. I recorded a barely coherent story, and hey, apparently it was good enough to be an editors’ pick! You can listen at the link above, but I recommend checking out the full twenty-minute showreel they put out. Neat stuff!
Finally! A blog of some kind about Chris Berube.
Hey! I live and study in New York now, and it’s only taken me, what, three weeks to set up a blog about it? For the curious (or, better still, those incurious about actually interesting things) I will be posting updates of my goings on in NYC. We’ll see how long this lasts. (Photo by Will Sloan)
