My meeting with NPR folk

I went down to KERA yesterday to meet with Jeff Whittington and start the phone screening gig. I have a few remarks.

First, I worried about what to wear and ended up being kind of overdressed, but now that I’ve set that precedent, I’m afraid I’ll have to keep looking well composed. That’s not so bad, as long as the crew there doesn’t think I’m just trying too hard to impress them or something. At least I have pretty good taste. Jeff, by the way, was wearing an old short-sleeve pearl-snap shirt, slim jeans, and beat-up Converse All-Stars. He’s more attractive in person than in his pictures on the website.

Second, I felt like the crew was welcoming, and as far as Jeff is concerned, I’m “A good, upstanding member of the UNT Mafia.” Mafia. That’s how he introduced me to Jeanie in the control room. Apparently there are a lot of UNT grads there, and they were happy to hear that I’m a UNT grad, too.

Third, Jeff uses words like “pedant” to insult and condescend, as in “boy, she sounds like a real pedant.” I love that. He also uses words like “sully” to encourage, as in “Krys, this is Sean. He’s here to try and sully his name.”

Fourth, Jeff was really stimulated—but I couldn’t figure out why—by one caller’s question for the liberal linguist guest: “Do linguists have an ethical obligation not to use their skills to promote their political ideals?” Why is that such a good question? Do doctors have an ethical obligation not to use their skills to rid the world of suffering?

Fifth and final, I think I’ve fallen into something good.