Luke somehow doesn't seem like a baseball hat guy.
I should be, since I grew up in Kent, Wash.
I love these people! I have been a radio fan since sometime around 1960, when I got my first seven-transistor radio. When I was young, I used to listen to the talk shows on KGO (like KIRO another 50,000 watt powerhouse) in San Francisco at night, when their signal would skip all the way up the coast. When I lived in SF, I listened to KGO too, and when I lived in NYC, I used to listen to a couple of different talk stations. I have a collection of about 600 Jean Shepherd radio shows I listen to frequently--all from WOR in NYC from about 1960-1977. Alas, Jean Shepherd signed off the air on WOR just about the time I arrived. Next to Jean Shepherd, my favorite radio show of all time is a brand new one, that has only been on the air since January in Seattle (with podcasts available for the unfortunate who live out of broadcast distance). You hear that Luke? In some perverse way, you're up there with Shep!
Jen, who grew up in my neighborhood,, Ballard.In January, in Seattle, talk radio began to live again. Or at least someone was performing artificial recussitation in hopes of breathing life back into what had become a loud and moribund format. Unfortunately, according to its creators, it may be Too Beautiful To Live. Luke Burbank, who was working on NPR returned to Seattle for his own talk show on KIRO 710 AM Radio.
Luke Burbank's TBTL is a bit [extreme understatement] of a departure from "typical" AM radio — "I'm going to hang out with my friend and talk about things," Burbank says — and that's the whole point of these three hours a night. The show spits in the face of talk radio conventions, and they are fatalistic about it. But, I have heard people on the street, at work, and at parties mention the show. That's never happened before with a local show. People write in from around the world and all over the U.S. "There's something happening here/What it is ain't exactly clear..."
Sean, cook, engineer, and mixmaster"Too Beautiful To Live" runs from 7-10 p.m. weeknights on 710 KIRO-AM, with a Best Of... on Saturdays. You can download the MP3s a/k/a PodCasts from KIRO's Web site Mynorthwest.com, and also from iTunes.
Luke is vain, funny, often a smart-ass, and always sharp. His partner in crime, Jen, is also funny, and extremely bright. She has a wicked sense of humor along with a heart of gold. Their engineer Sean, is an amusing knucklehead who sometimes talks about making eight bucks stretch the last four days before payday. TBTL is like sitting around with some funny friends, friendos. And the strangest and best part: they almost never take calls. Unlike most talk shows, you're glad. Unlike most talk shows, you actually want to hear the host.
"You have to treat it [the show] like it's a firefly and you've put it in a jar and it's flickering," said Luke in an interview.
Burbank and producer Jen Andrews have daily weigh-ins along with their engineer Sean. As most diet experts tell you, you shouldn't weigh yourself every day. But it's a great icebreaker and they treat it like it matters (also a recurring segment on the show: "Why ____________ [insert the name of something cool like Office Space] Matters." And then, they often delve into just what, and how much, they drank the night before (even Luke, who is now training for a marathon).
Just tune in and you'll figure it out on your own. Or you won't. You'll either detest it, or become a fan for life. Like most people (I'm too ancient to say peeps), I can't describe the show. . .I just ask is that you give them a listen. The podcast, with its high fidelity and no commercials is excellent.
I guess I am one of the 10's...a group of people who've been listening since the show's listeners numbered in the 10's. I tuned in the very first night after reading an interview with Jen and Luke before the shows began. Sure, I'm old enough to be their Dad, but I love these people. Even when they rant about pushing the graybeards out of the way (as they did this week)! Tune in M-F 7-10. They live in that dead zone...one of radio's worst possible time slots. They may be too beautiful to live, but I hope they're just homely enough to survive.
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