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Good news for Robin Young fans
By adamg on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 9:56am
NPR and WBUR are announcing that the locally produced "Here and Now," hosted by the locally grown Robin Young, is expanding to four hours on July 1 - although she'll be joined by a co-host:
When the expanded program launches July 1, she will have a co-host, Jeremy Hobson, currently host of Marketplace Morning Report. Hobson began his career in journalism at the age of 17 as an intern on NPR’s All Things Considered and since then has gained deep experience as a producer, reporter and now host. Meghna Chakrabarti, co-host of WBUR's Radio Boston, will be the program's primary back up host.
Of course, something has to give with the extra hours - and that something is "Talk of the Nation," which will disappear into the ether.
The moves are part of a "strategic partnership" between NPR and WBUR.
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Comments
Bad news
Robin Young is pretty vapid for NPR and now that's extended for 3 more hours? She has very little to say given one hour, let alone four. I guess we'll know even more about whatever pop culture trends were happening 2 months ago.
I Love It: WGBH-FM Had To Carry This
I love it: this was announced during top-of-the-hour newscasts on NPR, so WGBH-FM had to carry it. I heard it first just before "On Point" on WBUR, so at 11:00 I tuned in to WGBH-FM and it ran on their station too. It brought home the fact that WBUR is STILL the king of public radio in Boston, both in the ratings and as a source of NPR programming. BTW, "Talk of the Nation" may be going azway, but "Science Friday" will continue in some form. A whack-job Fundamentalist preacher, Bob Enyart (sounds like Smilin' Bob from the male sex organ potion that used to be on late-night TV) was sued by NPR for having a segment on HIS radio show called "Real Science Friday" that declared evolution was a hoax (maybe because HE wasn't highly evolved) or that the Earth was 6,000 years old. NPR won the case in court.
Gotta be better than the mouldering wreck that ToTN has become
I don't know if I'd call Robin "vapid" - she's got a fairly winning personality - and it's not nearly as undeservedly snarky and superior as Neal "40 years in the biz and I still can't run a phone board" Conan.
But in terms of having the journalistic chops to have a solid understanding of all her topics beforehand, I agree she sometimes disappoints. Too many predetermined narratives. And sometimes too easily bullied/misdirected by interview guests who don't want to engage controversy.
However, otoh, it's clear she doesn't dismiss the possibility that she may not already know all the truth of a story (a massive flaw on Conan's part) and she seems sincerely interested in the topics she covers - again, unlike the phone-it-in puns-are-easier-than-insight attitude that's become more and more prevalent at ToTN in recent years.
Big shoes to fill, and the crew at H&N will have to step up their game, but I think they may be able to do it - the show is still relatively young and evolving, and I'd rather have a show that shoots high and sometimes misses, than a desultory rehash of yesterday's news for the 5'oclock dinner crowd.
*****
(Btw, H&N was until now distributed by PRI, not NPR. Guess that'll change in July.)
robin young's hotness
she was quite fetching in her day. my friend and I used to ride our bikes along the charles across from WBZ's studios. she and barry nolan used to shoot a lot of spots for 'evening magazine' along the river. one day she was sitting in the back of the van and we asked her for an autograph. she said sure and reached wayyy back for a pen, giving my friend and I and barry nolan the female full monty. she was going commando! we all (the guys) just gave each other little smiles and got our autographs. don't have the autograph anymore but the memories of young gorgeous robin live forever.
p.s. they filmed my friend and I riding our bikes across the little walking bridge next to the river and used it in the opening for evening magazine for over a year. bostnkid was famous.
Yes, she was the Anchorette
Back when Boston also had the Anchor Hunk (Tom Ellis) and the Anchor Couple (Chet and Nat), who eventually, of course, had an Anchor Baby.
tom ellis (nice guy)
yup, ive got a tom ellis story too.
if you watch the spike lee movie, malcolm x, watch very closely when malcolm x(denzel washington) goes on his pilgrimage to mecca. sitting behind him on the plane is a sleeping tom ellis. i always wondered if it was actually him, so i emailed tom ellis and he replied! he told me he was cast as an extra and spike lee just told him to sit there and pretend he was asleep. he said he actually fell asleep and missed everything. never even saw them bring denzel in for the scene. true story. it was a very nice email and i was surprised at how friendly he seemed about it. seems like a really nice guy. not sure what he is up to these days. he must be up there in age.
There's Nothing Here, Now or Ever
This lightweight program is bush league and not ready for prime time. I remember Robin Young from the light-on-the-brain-cells "Evening Magazine" in the 1970s. She hasn't changed, she's still a lightweight.
THIS replaced TOTN? Bad move, NPR. No more financial support from me.