Al Letson's blog

So I’ve been working hard and heavy on the pilot, and I like where it’s going. When I hear a show on Public Radio, it’s really easy to forget all the people that make it happen. Working on the pilot makes me appreciate them even more. There is so much that goes into making a show work, and without people like my mentor Taki, I don’t think I could do this.

Taki is great cause he knows what it takes to make a show. After we talked about my vision for the show he set the tone in creating my vision. I couldn’t be happier with my choice. So tomorrow I head back to DC to finish up on some segments. I’m excited because this time out I have a really feeling for the show. I know exactly who I need to talk to, and timing it all out has worked out pretty well. Once again WAMU is helping me do some of the heavy lifting.

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The first time I wrote a play, I’d never really seen one. Hadn’t gone to highschool productions, and though I lived close to NYC in my early childhood, I never went to any play, except a musical called “Your Arms are to Short to Box with God”, but I’d never seen “Death of A Salesman” or any of the prerequisite drama productions to consider yourself a lover of theatre. But I wrote it because I had to. Later I went out and did a crash course on theatre and have been writing for the stage ever since. I had no idea what I was doing at first, it was all instinctual, but the fire that drove me to write has served me well. I didn’t know what I was getting into at all. How crazy it was for a neophyte to pick up and decide to be a dramatist? For me it was exciting, overwhelming, and beautiful. On the night of the opening of my first major production I was scared, happy, and tired. Most importantly I did it.

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After three weeks of planning the time for action has come. My advisor Taki Telonidis, (who has been an incredible help) and I have gotten about as ready as possible for the trip to DC.

Wait, did I mention that my show, State of the Re:UNION’s first stop will be none other then our countries capitol Washington DC. It just made sense to start at the top. Additionally, WAMU in DC has offered to help as much as they could, and they are helping a lot. After game planning with Taki, I realized how big of an idea my show is, it is massive. But if it’s done right, I think it can be something special. The danger of the show is it can very easily fall into the category of, “these are some cool people in DC….” Instead of “these are some of people who help create a community in DC, and that community is a reflection of communities across the nation.”

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I’ve been so busy as of late, I have yet to update my blog. I know I’m a bad blogger, forgive me for I have sinned. I just take for granted that everyone knows what’s been going on and of course that is silly. So here it is.

I’m extremely happy, excited, and scared all in the same time. To back track some, I found out that I’d been chosen, and was flown by PRX to Minneapolis, for the announcement it was a great trip and I got to meet two of the other contestants. They were excellent people. I was a little sad that I didn’t get to meet all of the contestants, we all created a bond it would have been nice to party with all ten. The people who ran the contest were a blast. I had so much fun, and I got to meet some of the people in public radio that I love. Diane Rhem was first and foremost. The only way I can describe her is majestic. It felt like I was hanging out with the queen of Public Radio. She was so warm and gracious.

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i'm so tired. but so happy and blessed. please forgive me if i don't sound eloquent. i just wanted show my thanks to you all. this has been amazing. more to come..

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In the immortal words of Christopher Walken “Wowwweee Wow Wow”. Everyone brought their A-game to this segment. As I first listened to each one, I started to sweat, (I do this every time cause all of the contestant have been formidable.) But this round we got to flex our muscles a little bit, and it felt good to finally hear what has been in the back of all the contestant’s minds. I’d love to hear all of these shows on the radio. They all bring something new to the mix. That being said, only three will move forward, so I figured I’d give you a little fuel to help you understand my concept.

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One of the great things that this contest has done for me, is give me an opportunity to meet some of the people at NPR that I really respect. I didn’t blog about this earlier, because I’ve been so busy and really wanted to give the whole experience it’s proper due. In July, when I was in LA being Adobe Software’s poet laureate, the Talent Quest people hooked up a visit for me to the NPR West studios right outside of LA.

As a card carrying nerd, I must admit to being a huge fan of Farai Chideya. That in itself doesn’t make me a nerd. Plenty of people love her work, and deservedly so. What’s makes me a nerd, is that I remember when I first read her work, 93? Reading Newsweek or Time. I was blown away that a young woman my age, was out there doing it. She was so smart, and engaging. Her work over the years has made me examine the world around me differently, and as a someone in the news industry that might be the best compliment I can give. She makes me think. I’ve read a couple of her books, watched her on TV, and I am an addict of her website www.popandpolitics.com. I was extremely happy when she took the reigns of News and Notes on NPR. (Can I say that I absolutely hate that name; News and Notes, just doesn’t roll off the lips easy. Sounds as inviting as a root canal, but the show itself is one of my favorites).

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I’ve been out of the loop for a little bit, between getting laid off from my teaching gig, and working on several new projects, life has been a little hectic. Getting laid off from the school is actually a good thing, I’ve got tons of work before me, and balancing both would have been too much, so it’s back to being a full-time artist, I’m excited and scared all in the same breath. But you can’t live your life in fear, you just gotta jump, and pray the Lord will give you wings, so I’m jumping. But enough of the philosophizing.

After reading April’s excellent post (Sympathy for the Devil), I thought I’d add my thoughts on why this contest is important to me: 1. I now have no job. LOL!!!! Seriously, when I heard about this contest, for me, it was an opportunity to put my mouth where my thoughts were. I listen to NPR all the time, but far too many times I wonder where I am in the programming? I wonder why most of my friends who are intelligent artistic types don’t really listen to NPR too much. Especially because they dislike commercial radio so much. The friends that do listen are split into two groups, white friends who pretty much listen to the morning and day programs, and the black friends who listen to News and Notes. (My friends of other ethnicities tend to fall in the first category). I’m curious of why there is no crossover. My thoughts are (and this is totally unscientific, but going with my gut) is that they don’t see themselves in the programs they don’t listen to, they think News and Notes are only for black people, and Day to Day is not for African Americans. I know this is not NPR’s intention, but that’s how it shakes out.

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When the challenged was announced I thought about trying to get some flashy people to interview. I know a few, and some friends were going to help me get an interview with rapper/actor Common, who’s new cd “Finding Forever” just dropped. (If you even casually like hip-hop pick it up, it’s excellent!) Anywhoo, I thought he’d make a great interview, but then I started thinking about what really mattered to me. I might never have this type of stage to say something, and did I want to do a profile given that space? I decided I wanted to tackle something. When I first thought about the tax issue, I thought to myself, how unsexy can you get? But then it’s meat and potatoes issue, it’s important, and not just to my community but to the entire country. We’ve been engaged in this idea of cutting taxes for a long time, but what’s the cost of the cuts? How does it affect us as a society?

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Round 3 Ding, Ding.

So, here it is, the Art of the Interview. Izzy said this would be fun. Ha. Actually the interview was fun. I won’t spill the beans on who I picked, but I will say that I choose a local issue that resonates across the country. I wanted to do something that was going to be a challenge. I had to do a lot of research about the topic. I choose a guest that could knowledgably talk about the subject, but at the same time have a different point of view then say a local politician.

This is the problem. The five minute chunk. Ouch. When I read the instructions I assumed, I’d be able to take the 15 minute interview and edit it down to 5 minutes. No worries. I set up my interview so I’d be able to make a great engaging story arch, about something that was very technical. After I finished the interview I found out that I’d misunderstood the instructions. I can not edit the interview at all. You must take a 4-5 minute chunk out of the interview and use that as your entry. EEEEKKK. I think all the contestants misunderstood the directions, but most of them have not yet recorded their interview. I can not go back and re-interview. If I had the opportunity I would have structured the interview differently. But oh well it is what it is. On a whole I think the interview came out pretty good. I’m a little worried that having to take a chunk out of a very technical subject won’t be as engaging as if I had the opportunity to edit it down, but at this point, I just gotta be happy with what I got, no sense crying over something you can’t change.

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