The Merlin Show

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Merlin talks with The Sound of Young America’s Jesse Thorn about how podcasts let him engage with a wider audience, the greying of public radio’s average listener, and how radio can be programmed to become almost unnoticeable.

Note: This is the second segment in our six-part interview with Jesse Thorn. Don’t miss the other segments.

Also mentioned in (or related to) this segment: UC Santa Cruz; KZSC; Maximum Fun Forum; WNYU; photos from Jesse’s recent meetup; TSOYA Flickr Group; Spiderman 3; KKSF (San Francisco’s Smooth Jazz); WFSU; WFSQ, and their playlist; Scott Simon (Scott, we kid because we love.); Fresh Air; MC Solaar; Killer Mike; Andrew W.K.; Jesse’s somewhat infamous letter to Weekend ATC; Matisyahu, a well-known hasidic hip-hop artist; Orientalism; Google Answers: Average listener age for public radio; Jesse’s MaxFun post: NPR Listeners: Exactly How You Picture Them; Kelefa Sanneh; KPCC.

Jesse Thorn (a/k/a, “America’s Radio Sweetheart”), is a nationally syndicated public radio host, raconteur, and podcaster who’s best known for The Sound of Young America and several other podcasts under the aegis of his “Maximum Fun” site:

• The Sound of Young America
  Episode Archive, Recent Episodes, Subscribe, iTunes
  Jesse’s terrific interviews with comedians, writers, actors, and other people he finds awesome.
• Coyle & Sharpe: The Impostors
  Recent Episodes, Subscribe, iTunes
  More info at their site. Vintage street terrorism from the skinny-tie 60s. Classic bits from the original and quintessential “man on the street” comedy put-on team.
• Jordan, Jesse, GO!
  Recent Episodes, Subscribe, iTunes
  Jesse and his pal, Jordan Morris (Boy Detective), do free-form. And it’s really funny. Seriously.
• Kasper Hauser Comedy Podcast
  Episode Archive, Recent Episodes, Subscribe, iTunes
  Sketch comedy from San Francisco’s hilarious “Kasper Hauser” comedy group, perhaps best known for their “Sky Maul” catalog parody.
• The College Years
  Recent Episodes, Subscribe, iTunes
  Santa Cruz-era episodes of The Sound of Young America, decanted for your present-day enjoyment.

• Merlin’s personal picks for a few Sound of Young America episodes to get started with:
  • October 13th, 2006 — Best Friends - “Guests John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton. Our guests were college classmates, and remain close friends today. Hodgman is an author and is regularly seen on The Daily Show. Coulton is a comic singer-songwriter.”
  • April 10th, 2007 — Jack McBrayer - “We talk with Jack McBrayer, who plays Kenneth, the lovable NBC Page, in the NBC sitcom ‘30 Rock.’”
  • August 26th, 2006 — The Impostors - “Guest Mal Sharpe. Mal Sharpe was half of Coyle & Sharpe, a ground-breaking team of put-on artists who terrorized 1960s San Francisco.”