Is it better to burn out or fade away? About a year and a half ago Jared Silvia and I quietly ended our glorious reign as the hosts of Functionally Literate Radio on WPRK. A live, weekly radio show was a lot to manage, among all of life’s other [insert expletive].
But in 2018, Burrow is back on the “air” via a new podcast endeavor produced by the fine folks at Studio 17 TV, an Orlando-based media company showcasing all aspects of the City Beautiful. When I was asked to do a podcast to highlight Orlando’s literary community, I couldn’t really say no. But how would this be different from the old radio show? I selfishly decided to invite writers I admire to read and talk about a specific piece of work (story, poem, essay, novel excerpt) that I admire. So each episode is like an audiobook meets director’s commentary, plus general banter about each guest’s relationship to Florida, and what they are reading / recommending at the moment. We’re actually 3 episodes in already, but here’s a look at what’s to come in all of Season 1:
Ep. 1 – A brief, wondrous history of your humble host
Ep. 2 – Amy Watkins
Ep. 3 – Michael Wheaton
Ep. 4 – Brianna Johnson
Ep. 5 – Lucianna Chixaro Ramos
Ep. 6 – Jared Silvia
Ep. 7 – Racquel Henry
Ep. 8 – Susan Lilley
So there it is, we faded out and now we’re cranking up the volume again on a different station… before this metaphor gets out of hand, let me get to the important part, and that’s you. I’m 200 words in and already sick of hearing my own voice. Imagine what that must be like when I’m actually talking… So, in the spirit of community, my goal is to open the show up to other Orlando-based hosts. I think that’s all the connection needed to “keep it local” and to highlight the kinds of bright readers and writers that live in Burrow’s home base.
What more am I looking for? Well, there’s a ton of “content” and obligatory promotional interview tours done around new books and authors, but I think the best literary interviews are borne out of a genuine interest to know more about the writer and their work. I don’t care about timeliness or relevance to today’s hysterical media cycle, I’m looking for a good, wide variety of engaged dialogue.
I can’t interview everyone, and most of the time I’m not the best person to do the interview justice. So take advantage of me taking advantage of this platform. If you consider yourself an Orlandoan, are comfortable around microphones; and if there’s a writer you’ve been dying to interview, and you can get them into Studio 17’s luscious digs or capture their voice with reasonable quality, send me a pitch and we’ll see if we can’t create a multi-voiced beauty of a literary podcast together.
In the meantime, check out the pod on iTunes or GooglePlay, and help us find more listeners by subscribing, rating, and reviewing Out of Print.