Just Talking

Linda Burton posting from Madison, Wisconsin – “It’s like melted cheese stuck to a gold-plated toaster,” said the voice coming out of the speaker. The voice was that of Mark Leibovich, guest interviewee on today’s talk show, Whad’Ya Know; broadcast Saturday mornings via Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and distributed by Public Radio International (PRI). I normally catch it on whatever National Public Radio (NPR) station serves wherever I happen to be, but today I’m in the thick of it, sitting “live” in the studio audience in downtown Madison’s Monona Terrace Center. Full of pre-show sugar-drizzled donuts and logger’s coffee, I watched host Michael Feldman wander around the stage and out into the audience, shirttail loose, aiming for casual; aiming to put us at ease. We were prompted before the “On Air” flashed; “I ask whad’ya know,” he said; “then you answer ‘Not much! You?’” We practiced a few times; “You need the gesture,” he chided, flinging arms back and chest forward. “That makes it more….you know.” He chided announcer Sara Nics on her retro-chic outfit, totally wasted on a radio show – jeans split at the knees, spiked-heel leather boots; a plaid 70’s jacket. “I wouldn’t let my daughter go out like that,” he said. She did a little Charleston before she took her seat; we laughed, warming up to the process. Whad’Ya Know has been on since 1985; Wall Street Journal has dubbed Feldman “King of Small Talk Radio.” His show is meant to be silly; even serious subjects get the low-key voice (think Groucho Marx). Today’s interview with Leibovich followed that path, as the author discussed his ire-arousing new book, This Town. Two Parties and a Funeral – plus plenty of valet parking in America’s Gilded Capital. “Washington DC,” Leibovich said, “is the place people go to get famous.” Feldman dug for “whys.” » read more