I never imagined I would be on the radio.
I always wanted to be a scientist. That’s one reason I studied chemistry in college and went to work at a testing lab right out of school. But I found bench chemistry was not as exciting as I had hoped, and, unfortunately, I didn’t have the gumption to get a graduate degree in chemistry.
Luckily, a friend told me about a part-time job at WKSU, a station that I had been listening to since I was a teenager. I applied and became a production assistant, working weekends at the studios on the Kent State University campus.
They even gave me a radio show to host on Sunday evenings featuring local classical concerts. It was called "In Performance." I learned as much as I could about public radio during those two years working weekends, and when a full-time job opened up, I went for it.
My first day as the fund-drive producer was December 18, 2000.
I had an office and plenty of support to learn the trade of raising money on the air. My job was to put together the fund drives and try to make them not too irritating for the audience.
I did that for five years until switching to the music side of the operation. I worked Saturday mornings and hosted classical and folk music shows for a few years until August 2008, when I joined the newsroom as the new Morning Edition host.
Learning journalism on the fly is akin to trial by fire. My boss was M.L. Schultze, a veteran news editor with a legendary work ethic. I remember one time trying to keep up with her while working on a news series, pulling 12 hour days, scrambling to meet deadlines. I finally realized that no matter how hard I tried, I could never out-work Schultze. She was a mentor and an exemplar of the highest integrity in the journalism profession.
Again, I had never thought I would end up on the radio, or as a journalist. But I embraced where life had led me and went back to school to get a masters in journalism at Kent State. But I’m still learning.
I still struggle with how difficult it can be to sift the truth out of complex events, how hard it is to summarize complex situations into manageable stories, how incredibly important it is that journalism thrive in the U.S. despite all the challenges.
I’ve been through enough news cycles to trust my judgment when events unfold. I know that what we have at Ideastream Public Media is special and could be at risk any time.
Newsrooms around the country are closing, laying off reporters and seeking new revenue streams. AI-generated content is flooding social media and political leaders continue to blast legacy news organizations for doing their job. I acknowledge that some days it feels overwhelming to report the news. It can be just too much. But, luckily, I’m part of a newsroom that has talented, dedicated reporters and editors who believe in the work we do. It’s inspiring.
When December 18, 2025 rolled around and I was on the air during our end-of-year fund drive, I mentioned it was my 25th anniversary at WKSU. An hour later, the tiny studio suddenly filled with more than 20 people, newsroom colleagues, managers, people from other departments … all there to wish me happy anniversary, LIVE on the radio.
I had no other choice but to keep talking, providing play-by-play as a cake was brought in and a bag of PBS-themed thank you gifts. It was truly surreal. And when the crowd, LIVE over the radio, began sing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” I momentarily left my body.
I’m not a real radio guy, I’m a chemist who got lucky. I stammered something about the privilege of working in public media all these years, trying to survive the embarrassment of adoration.
I later got to thinking, the song should have been, “he’s an ok fellow” or “he’s not the worst fellow in the world." Then it hit me what the perfect lyric would be: "He's a damn lucky fellow."
