Response Radio: An Illustrated Guide

To begin, this was the most entertaining piece of academic reading I've yet to come across in college. Ira Glass was made to be a cartoon. Prime cartoon material, if you will.  That being said,  this Illustrated Guide essentially served to reiterate mostly topics that we've already addressed in class, but in a little bit more precise detail.
     The piece began by discussing how difficult it can be to actually choose a story.  Much less several stories relating to the same topic.  Ira argued that you can find two stories that are both thematically strong, but it's always a better idea to roll with the one that can be told as a narrative, or a sequence of actions. Even more, a narrative that, as it progresses, has the ability to constantly raise ever deepening (or widening) questions. On top of this narrative, a good story also needs reflection.  Otherwise it might as well be a "bar story" as Ira referred to it.  He even argued that talk radio follows this format; always closing with some sort of reflective conclusion about the MEANING of whatever was just discussed.

Ira then proceeded to talk about interviewing, reviewing all of the techniques we've discussed thus far. A few new and interesting comments were made, though. He began by saying, "doing an interview is like hosting a party." This  didn't make sense at first, but then his following comments helped clarify.  Make the interviewee as comfortable as possible. He suggested telling them a story in order to elicit one from them. Apparently this is an old tactic, but I'd never heard of it... Along with making them comfortable, you have to push for more than a "here's what happened" story. If you're in a space they're comfortable with, ask them to take you on a tour and describe significant places. Not just where they were, but how they sounded, what they looked like, smelled like, what kind of feelings they caused you to feel, and why you think they caused you to feel those feelings.   It was put in simple terms at the end. Something happens. Here's why we're talking about this. Here's what it means.  Or "What happened?' "Why are we talking about this?" "What does this mean?" Once these three questions have been answered in detail, it can be considered a solid interview.

After the section on interviewing, they talked about editing, and that seemed to be the most redundant part of the article (comic?).  The main point here was to maintain rhythm.

After this, Ira made a few interesting points about music, that will help me consider when, and when not, music will be appropriate (if at all) in my future projects. He referred to music as the frame around the picture. It adds an extra layer of depth that can make an interview more than "two guys talking." Music can be used to add emphasis to an important point.  Even more emphasis can be added by bringing down the music right before a key point is made.

They continued to talk about ways to get involved with public radio, but I've fortunately gotten the opportunity to do that already!  JOIN KVRX!  But, a really entertaining article that helped solidify some of the techniques and approaches we've discussed in class up to this point.