Diane Rehm
Last Tuesday (I know, I know it’s late) WAMU 88.5, American University Radio, invited the Blo’ to see a live taping of the Diane Rehm Show with a special guest, Carl Kasell. If you’re an NPR aficionado, those two names are near and dear to your heart. Carl Kasell was the voice of NPR’s Morning Edition from 1979 until December 2009. Diane Rehm has been a fixture on WAMU forever, starting on their morning talk show (later renamed The Diane Rehm Show) the same year as Kasell’s introduction to NPR. Those of you who are less likely to tune in for hardnews and interviews might recognize Kasell from Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, where he has served as an official judge and score-keeper since 1998.
Kasell has a storied history at NPR. But he cut his chops as a music DJ in Baltimore, where he worked for a contemporary country station. He landed a gig doing weekend news at WABA in Arlington friend’s request, having no personal interest in news radio, thinking it “boring.” However, his vocal delivery and newswriting skills caused him to be a part of the team that developed Morning Edition.
Listening to these colleagues talk was like hanging out with your two most interesting and hilarious older relatives — the ones who know magic tricks, have the best stories, and have seen it all (another question had them recount their experiences the day President Kennedy was assassinated). Rehm, of course, is a master interviewer, and Kasell was an amazing guest. Rehm allowed the audience to ask questions and weaved them in the overall narrative of Kasell’s life seamlessly.
When asked about his hobbies, Kasell pulled a red handkerchief out of thin air, saying he had an on the side show called The Magic Edition. “[A few] months ago, I sawed Roxanne Roberts in half!” After his handkerchief trick, Rehm asked him “What kind of pleasure does that give you?” Kasell grinned and replied, “I like the oohs and aahs.”
The audience was filled with late 30s+ people, the core demographic for NPR listeners, but neither Kasell or Rehm seemed concerned about the future of radio as a relevant medium. “I think it’s going to be there just as strong as it’s ever been,” said Kasell, with Rehm adding, “[There are] so many more opportunities…being without radio is just an impossibility.” Kasell also pointed to the fact that WW…DTM garners three millions listeners on air, and one million subscribers to the podcast, which also features Mo Rocca and Paula Poundstone. “I think we’re okay,” he said.
There were two moments, however, when old met new with the audience. A high schooler came up to the microphone to tell the two on stage that he managed to get his friends listening to WW…DTM, and used it as a gateway drug to get them to listen to more serious programs. The touch-of-gray audience burst into applause. A young woman came to the mic near the end of the show, but she had a grievance to air. She informed Kasell of their status as friends on Facebook (“Ah! I thought you looked familiar!”). She told him that he had RSVP’d “Maybe” to her birthday party that year, but had crushed her hopes by never showing up. Kasell laughed and then promised, “Next year.”
If you’re interested in hearing more, the entire broadcast is available online at the WAMU site. [Stream it here!]
When she first joined the White House press corps, not many other women had been given the chance to cover the president. But 57 years and eight Presidents later, Helen Thomas is still there. “I was the man who came to dinner,” she told GWU students at the Elliott School last night.
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