Sometimes, it’s like you’re trying hard to not scuff up the furniture while house sitting for your best friend
It’s tough to describe exactly what it is like to walk in and act as guest host on an NPR newsmagazine.
Today marks the third time I’ve done such a thing, filling in for the amazing Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition Sunday. The previous times, I’ve covered for Weekend All Things Considered, so this was my first time helming a morning news magazine.
(To hear how it went, click here to hear the whole show)
Mark your calendars – I’m doing it again on Jan. 4, filling in for the intrepid Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday.
What is wonderful about these gigs is the chance to flex new journalistic muscles. As a correspondent and analyst, you don’t get as much chance to do longer interviews – up to 9 minutes, at times – and really dig into topics.
Tackling subjects the host cares about can make the segments better, so today we had an interview I suggested with the director of Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary (allowing me to confess my love for soft rock icons like Michael McDonald, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan and, of course, Toto).
And after I mentioned that Jon Batiste had recently released an album – the amazing Beethoven Blues — one of our intrepid producers got the immensely talented keyboard wizard to call us from the start of his vacation overseas. (thank you so much, Jon!)
But there’s also stuff I rarely spend time on in my regular job – including a moving collection of short stories set in Kashmir by journalist-turned-fiction writer Zahid Rafiq called The World with Its Mouth Open.
I likely never would have read this book if I wasn’t prepping for an interview with its author – I don’t read much fiction, period – but I was engaged by his detailed writing and spellbound by his observation that people who live or grow up in war zones often learn not to plan for a future they are never guaranteed will come.
There’s a sense of not wanting to scuff up the furniture in a place you’re watching for a friend. So I really wanted to maintain Ayesha’s awesome sense of fun throughout the show, particularly during the Puzzle Segment.
And I was in awe of the efficiency of the production team which makes the show happen every weekend. Their commitment to making sure I did the best I could, ensured the experience was so much fun and less nerve-wracking than it could have been.
In the end, you can let me know how you think it all turned out. But for this NPR nerd, who once made his children wince over how much the network was playing in our cars on the way to schools, soccer, family trips and more – WAY before I became an employee, by the way – today’s guest host gig was the experience of a lifetime.
And, best of all, I’ll get to do it again at the beginning of 2025.