Studio 360 brings you stories created by some of the best independent radio producers in the country. Here are some of the people whose extraordinary stories you hear most often.
Peter Crimmins
Peter Crimmins used to tinker with electronics as a child. He would take radios apart and figure out the schema of capacitors and transistors. He never figured out how to put them back together, so he became a radio producer rather than an electrical engineer. Peter became senior producer of Ben Manilla Productions, in San Francisco, and made programming for public radio, commerical radio, and corporate projects. Since becoming an independent producer, he has reported from England, Spain, Tijuana, Philadelphia, and New York. In addition to Studio 360, his stories have aired on Weekend America and Marketplace. He is a part-time news reporter at WHYY, in Philadelphia. His long-awaited film project may never be completed, but it's great. You'll see.
Trey Kay
West Virginian Trey Kay came to New York to pursue acting, writing, and music. This led him to create and host The Natural Coffeehouse Radio Hour, channeling a Garrison Keillor-like character, for New York's WBAI. A Studio 360 contributor since the program launched, Trey has delighted in interviewing many of his heroes -- Edward Albee, Tom Waits, Sharon Olds, Spalding Gray, Diamanda Galas, Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver. One of his stories was featured in Studio 360's Peabody Award-winning hour "American Icons: Moby Dick." Trey has also reported for WNYC's Morning Edition, Day to Day, Weekend America, Marketplace, The Next Big Thing, Osgood Files and PBS's Frontline. He sings and plays guitar in the band Uncle Moon.
Sarah Lilley
Sarah Lilley grew up in Philadelphia and spent most of fourth grade under the covers listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Graduating with a degree in Music from U.C. Berkeley, she moved to New York in 1990 and over the following decade worked at the American Composers Orchestra, Bang on a Can, Nonesuch Records, and RCA Victor. A regular contributor to Studio 360 since 2002, she is the consulting producer for our series on Science & Creativity. She also creates museum audio tours for Acoustiguide.
Eric Molinsky
Eric Molinsky knew he wanted to be a public radio producer by the tender age of 32. He had been hooked on Studio 360 while sitting in his cubicle along Sunset Boulevard, drawing storyboards for Rugrats. Finally it was time to stop annoying his fellow animators with his lunchbreak theories about the cultural zeitgest, and he moved back East to hook up with the Studio 360 crowd. He quickly became the program's house cartoonist, and went on to coproduce in Studio 360's "American Icons" programs on the Wizard of Oz, the Lincoln Memorial, and Superman. He's also produced stories about many of his favorite artists, like Aimee Mann and Jules Feiffer. Originally from Massachusetts, Eric studied at Wesleyan University and the California Institute of the Arts.
Lu Olkowski
Lu Olkowski used to work a stressful and boring job at a huge cable television channel. She would listen to the radio and think, "that sounds like a lot more fun." Lu produced her very first radio story for Studio 360: it was about an artist who sent the sound of vaginal contractions during labor into deep space to communicate with aliens, and she immediately become a regular contributor. Her profile of documentary director Zana Briski (LISTEN HERE) won a Gracie Award in 2006. Lu has also done stories for All Things Considered, Day to Day, Radio Lab, This American Life, and Weekend America.
Rob Weisberg
Rob Weisberg is the host of WFMU's Transpacific Sound Paradise, the New York area's "peerless world music show" (in the words of Time Out New York). In a given hour Rob might be playing a chanteuse, a Chinese pipa player, a Balkan-style accordionist, a Jewish American trumpeter and a Brazilian pianist. Global Rhythm and Roots magazines have published his writing on world music, and he was profiled by the Greek music magazine Difono. Rob's stories have also aired on Global Village, Pacific Time, and The Next Big Thing. He works as an engineer and producer for WNYC.
