Just when did I get to the point when staying at a hotel wasn't fun?
I suppose I shouldn't go around admitting I speak untruths on the radio.
Where radio is different than fiction is that even mediocre fiction needs purpose, a driving question.
You'd think that radio was around long enough that someone would have coined a word for staring into space.
It's not a terribly original thing to say, but I love Raymond Carver. For one thing, he's fun to read out loud.
But you can make good radio, interesting radio, great radio even, without an urgent question, a burning issue at stake.
We're Jews, my family, and Jews break down into two distinct subcultures: book Jews and money Jews. We were money Jews.
But sadly, one of the problems with being on public radio is that people tend to think you're being sincere all the time.
In some theoretical way I know that a half-million people hear the show. But in a day-to-day way, there's not much evidence of it.
I think good radio often uses the techniques of fiction: characters, scenes, a big urgent emotional question. And as in the best fiction, tone counts for a lot.