Thread by @galenbeebe

Next up at #onairfest: Today, Explained, live! With @rameswaram and @NoelKing.

(Note: quotes are quoted, non-quoted text is paraphrased, and parentheses are my commentary.)

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They had a plan for Thursday’s show. Wednesday’s show was on Ukraine so they thought great, we did Ukraine Wednesday, we’ll do a show Thursday about what happened to Afghan refugees. But then Russia invaded Ukraine.

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Important: @NoelKing wakes up at like 4:30am. Seems useful for someone who makes a daily news show.

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(I have 4 daily news shows on my regular rotation: The Daily; Today, Explained; What a Day; and Post Reports. I like different things about each of them. Most days I see what they’re each covering and pick one, but some days I listen to them all.)
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(I like that Today, Explained pulls from reporters at different news orgs and doesn’t just do audio versions of their own non-audio stories.)
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(I like that Post Reports sounds conversational—just like two really smart people talking about the news, not like they’re going through a list of questions. It sounds the most natural.)
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(The NYTimes is the actual newspaper I read most, so I appreciate The Daily as an alternate way of getting that exact news take. Also, The Daily tends to be the one people are talking about if they’re talking about any of the dailies, so it’s useful to hear.)
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(What a Day is the most fun news show I listen to. It’s a more lighthearted way to get the news, and there’s always something absurd in there.)
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(Alternating the daily news shows is also an exercise in hearing many approaches to the same story. Each show has its own voice, guests, sound design, & angle, & that lets me approach the news more holistically and reminds me that there is never one way to tell a story.)
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“In the direst of straights, there’s always someone who needs to laugh.” @NoelKing
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.@rameswaram: What do you think the value of this explainer journalism is?

@NoelKing: Everyone wants to have an opinion on what’s happening. It’s better to be informed about *why* things are happening in addition to *what’s* happening.
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“We are not god, and we don’t know the answers, but we can probably find people who do.” @rameswaram
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.@NoelKing on going from Morning Edition to Today, Explained: At Morning Edition, you have to color inside the lines. You can’t make an off color joke. You can’t include anything that’s not “substantive.” You cut out the laughs. At Today, Explained, that’s not the case.
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In April, Today, Explained will be on member stations around the country!

Radio and podcasts are the ouroboros.

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