This week, we look at a Nigerian doctor who tried to ring early alarm bells about the monkeypox outbreak. Plus, a new “I Voted” sticker design is captivating voters.
Scott’s weekly weigh-in
A good weekend to you. A few words about a friend. Larry Josephson died this past week at the age of 83.
By the time I met him, Larry was a producer and consultant, and ran his Radio Foundation, including a studio in his apartment on New York City’s Upper West Side, where he would greet important guests that we would occasionally book in his robe, and with bagels.
He was Larry the J. in his days as one of the original voices of “listener supported radio,” on Pacifica’s WBAI in the 1960s, with a morning show that fit no programmer’s definition. Larry would sip coffee, share music, tell jokes that would make a Spartan soldier cringe, float unpopular ideas, laud fresh takes, and make himself an indispensable companion for hardened New Yorkers.
His daughter, the great producer Jennie Josephson, wrote to friends this week that her father’s legacy “is more than just his radio shows. It is contained in the generations of public radio engineers, producers, and talent who he hired, fired, and recommended to others. In other words, all of you who have made the public radio airwaves so special.”
“Larry was a complicated man,” she added. “[A] wonderful friend, a relentless and public nemesis, and a royal pain in the tush. He yelled too much. He ate too much. But you can never love life too much, and at that he excelled.”
I’ll miss flinching to hear Larry’s jokes, but cherish his friendship and encouragement. He reminds us to respect your audience by letting them think for themselves — and to laugh with you.
Scott Simon is one of NPR's most renowned news anchors. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and one of the hosts of the morning news podcast Up First. Be sure to listen to him every Saturday on your local NPR station, and follow him on Twitter.
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