TED Radio Hour host, Guy Raz.
TED Radio Hour airs Saturdays at 10pm on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM. Visit npr.org/ted to subscribe to the podcast and check out the archives.
Read more of the interview with Guy and find out what the subject of his TED Talk would be. It’s all online and only at kqed.org/onq-exclusives.
After three and a half years as host of NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered, Guy Raz couldn’t imagine leaving. But then something serendipitous happened. Just as he was taking a long, hard look at the challenges his WATC work schedule brought to his family life, along came the opportunity to host the TED Radio Hour. “I can’t think of anything I’d have left WATC for other than this,” he said. “I, like a billion other people, have been captivated by the amazing TED Talks. . . it was an opportunity that I would have been foolish to pass up.” When On Q’s editor spoke to Guy in February, he and his team were working feverishly to finish the first episode (which aired on KQED Public Radio on March 1), drinking 5-Hour Energy and not getting enough sleep. “It’s like being at a startup,” he said. “What I imagine a startup must be like.” He explained that one of the unique things about the show is that it’s a full partnership between NPR and TED. “We’ve never partnered with an organization in quite this way. Normally on [an NPR] show, we’d have an idea, we’d execute it, we’d mix it and put it on the air. With this, the TED folks are involved in our production process and
In which city is Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries set?
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each of the episodes is a product of all of our thoughts. We have strong ideas and they have strong ideas and we have to hash it out. “For TED, although they do all kinds of partnerships, they haven’t done something quite like this. We’re mining their archives and we’re not just putting talks on the radio. We’re taking parts of talks and moving them around and bringing [TED speakers] onto the show. And we’re adding all kinds of production techniques and music. (The great thing is), we all want to push beyond our comfort levels and bring a whole different level of production to the show.” The process for creating an episode can take a variety of tacks. “Sometimes we find a talk that we’re blown away by and then try and create a theme around the ideas the talk presents. Or we might pose a question like, ‘What do babies think about?’ Then we’d search the archives for 10 or 15 talks that might be related and narrow them down.” In the coming weeks, listen for shows on topics like mankind’s place in the universe and space, how the sounds around us affect our behavior, and a provocative hour on why there is power in failure.
entered to win two essential pieces for any emergency kit — a crank radio and a flashlight. For a chance to win even more prizes, visit “The Giveaway” (kqed.org/giveaway) and check out the latest contest.
Photo: ©2010 NPR, by Doby Photography.
New Host, New Sound for TED Radio Hour