Listen in, Chez Pim on Living on Earth

(Listen to Pim on Living on Earth: download the MP3 file)

A little while ago an email arrived from Eileen Bolinsky, the senior editor of an environmental radio show called Living on Earth, which airs on National Public Radio. She asked if I would be interested in adapting the blog post Green Packaging into a piece for the show. I, of course, was delighted. Living on Earth is one of the shows I listen to on my Saturday KQED allstar line-up, beginning with Cah Tawk, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! (I used to be SO good at this game!), This American Life, and eventually Living on Earth. And, lest the radio shows I listen to damage my frivolous street cred, I should probably tell you LoE ends just in time for me to begin contemplating what to wear to dinner on a Saturday night.

Adapting the blog piece for the radio was an interesting exercise, actually. It gave me an entirely new respect for the podcasters among us. I had to pay attention to everything, not just wording and phrasing but also the sound and rhythm of the words and sentences when read out loud. Thank goodness Eileen had an inexhaustible supply of patience to guide me along to the end. She was even present –albeit virtually- at KQED recording studio when I went in to read the piece.

And if I'd thought rewriting a blog post for the radio was quite an exercise, recording it proved to be a new challenge entirely. Where was Ira Glass when I needed him? Imagine my surprise when an instruction from the producer went like this: "I want you to read this graph and I want you to be indignant!" Indignant? At the bamboo sticks? Oy! And it didn't end there. "That was great!" he said, "now lets do this other graph and can we have lament?" Huh huh. It was all I could do to stay serious. I'm no actress so telling me to do lament is just giving me a good fit of giggles. But I must say, all in all it was more than a little fun.

Get the MP3 file on the Living on Earth website.

P.S. While you are there you might want to listen to the other segments on the show as well. The one on sugar sweetened drinks and obesity epidemic in kids, especially, is great!

tag(s):food |green packaging |Thai street food |Living on Earth |NPR