Comments on: Tony Schwartz — for the Next Generation http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/ Christopher Lydon in conversation on arts, ideas and politics Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:23:24 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: cetinyan http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-162595 cetinyan Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:09:17 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-162595 Just listened to it in the car as a podcast. What a treat! I too thought this was an eye-opening (ear-opening?) hour. Thanks. Among other things, it makes me think there should be an aural equivalent of "enlightening." The before and after clips of jimmy carter were just amazing, as was Bill Clinton's masterful use of the TS technique. Of course,what made the interview especially delightful was the awareness that it was itself very much a perfect illustration of its own subject matter. Lovely! I happened by luck to listen to this right after Chris' July conversation with John Maeda about visual "stickiness". The two together make a potent and provocative coctail. Having now seen/heard examples of and anecdotes about of stickiness of soungs/voices/images, I woul like to know more about the theory. What about our brains make them so receptive to certain aural and visual signals? What's the evolutionary tie-in? Just listened to it in the car as a podcast. What a treat! I too thought this was an eye-opening (ear-opening?) hour. Thanks. Among other things, it makes me think there should be an aural equivalent of “enlightening.” The before and after clips of jimmy carter were just amazing, as was Bill Clinton’s masterful use of the TS technique. Of course,what made the interview especially delightful was the awareness that it was itself very much a perfect illustration of its own subject matter. Lovely!
I happened by luck to listen to this right after Chris’ July conversation with John Maeda about visual “stickiness”. The two together make a potent and provocative coctail.

Having now seen/heard examples of and anecdotes about of stickiness of soungs/voices/images, I woul like to know more about the theory. What about our brains make them so receptive to certain aural and visual signals? What’s the evolutionary tie-in?

]]> By: kelebek http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-162513 kelebek Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:20:28 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-162513 The spots you played were tremendous. I wish there had been time for more discussion of the implications of Schwartz’s ideas for the internet. The spots you played were tremendous. I wish there had been time for more discussion of the implications of Schwartz’s ideas for the internet.

]]> By: Zeke http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-145454 Zeke Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:31:39 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-145454 Lessons learned. From the NY Times magazine profile of Rush Limbaugh: <i>Limbaugh is being uncharacteristically modest when he attributes his wealth to simple salesmanship. First, you have to draw — and keep — a crowd. “Rush is just an amazing radio performer,” says Ira Glass, a star of the younger generation of public-radio personalities. “Years ago, I used to listen in the car on my way to reporting gigs, and I’d notice that I disagreed with everything he was saying, yet I not only wanted to keep listening, I actually liked him. That is some chops. You can count on two hands the number of public figures in America who can pull that trick off.” Glass compares Limbaugh to another exceptional free-form radio monologist, Howard Stern. “A lot of people dismiss them both as pandering and proselytizing and playing to the lowest common denominator, but I think that misses everything important about their shows,” he says. “They both think through their ideas in real time on the air, they both have a lot more warmth than they’re generally given credit for, they both created an entire radio aesthetic.” </i> Lessons learned. From the NY Times magazine profile of Rush Limbaugh:

Limbaugh is being uncharacteristically modest when he attributes his wealth to simple salesmanship. First, you have to draw — and keep — a crowd. “Rush is just an amazing radio performer,” says Ira Glass, a star of the younger generation of public-radio personalities. “Years ago, I used to listen in the car on my way to reporting gigs, and I’d notice that I disagreed with everything he was saying, yet I not only wanted to keep listening, I actually liked him. That is some chops. You can count on two hands the number of public figures in America who can pull that trick off.”

Glass compares Limbaugh to another exceptional free-form radio monologist, Howard Stern. “A lot of people dismiss them both as pandering and proselytizing and playing to the lowest common denominator, but I think that misses everything important about their shows,” he says. “They both think through their ideas in real time on the air, they both have a lot more warmth than they’re generally given credit for, they both created an entire radio aesthetic.”

]]> By: Chris http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-144855 Chris Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:22:41 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-144855 I am tickled to share this note from Tony Schwartz's daughter Kayla. She is (appropriately enough) a speech and presentation coach in New York. Thank you, Kayla Schwartz. She writes: "I listened to the podcast of your conversation yesterday while at the gym (FYI, Both my husband and myself had a hard time downloading it from the website but got it easily on iTunes.) "I want to tell you that I laughed out loud so many times that people were staring at me. I also so relished the explanations and descriptions of him... his environment, his work. Growing up with this man as a father, I was of course not as attuned to his professional accomplishments as to his personality, his creative talents, his idiosyncracies, his sense of humor, his emotional side. Between the two of you, I heard many of the ideas I had known in passing, but described clearly, with fitting examples, and described in relation to Tony as a person. I cherished hearing his voice, hearing some of the familiar spots, and being brought back into that world of the Carter campaign (I was age 14), the Nixon-Coke parody and others. "I especially love hearing some descriptions of my dad's theories, words which I have never specifically heard him say, but which I find myself uttering with my clients as I coach them on presenting! "Thank you so much for bringing my Dad "back to life" for me." I am tickled to share this note from Tony Schwartz’s daughter Kayla. She is (appropriately enough) a speech and presentation coach in New York. Thank you, Kayla Schwartz. She writes:

“I listened to the podcast of your conversation yesterday while at the gym (FYI, Both my husband and myself had a hard time downloading it from the website but got it easily on iTunes.)

“I want to tell you that I laughed out loud so many times that people were staring at me. I also so relished the explanations and descriptions of him… his environment, his work. Growing up with this man as a father, I was of course not as attuned to his professional accomplishments as to his personality, his creative talents, his idiosyncracies, his sense of humor, his emotional side. Between the two of you, I heard many of the ideas I had known in passing, but described clearly, with fitting examples, and described in relation to Tony as a person. I cherished hearing his voice, hearing some of the familiar spots, and being brought back into that world of the Carter campaign (I was age 14), the Nixon-Coke parody and others.

“I especially love hearing some descriptions of my dad’s theories, words which I have never specifically heard him say, but which I find myself uttering with my clients as I coach them on presenting!

“Thank you so much for bringing my Dad “back to life” for me.”

]]> By: Zeke http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-144611 Zeke Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:06:11 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-144611 This was another one of your surprising hours--shows which don't look promising and turn out to be enlightening. I'd never heard of Tony Schwartz (though of course I knew about the "daisy spot") until this show. The discussion of how the visuals impede the message was also knew to me and fascinating; I'll never again watch a newscast without chuckling about the "talent's" hair. I'm wondering how this works (or is different) in movies. The spots you played were tremendous. I wish there had been time for more discussion of the implications of Schwartz's ideas for the internet. This was another one of your surprising hours–shows which don’t look promising and turn out to be enlightening. I’d never heard of Tony Schwartz (though of course I knew about the “daisy spot”) until this show. The discussion of how the visuals impede the message was also knew to me and fascinating; I’ll never again watch a newscast without chuckling about the “talent’s” hair. I’m wondering how this works (or is different) in movies. The spots you played were tremendous. I wish there had been time for more discussion of the implications of Schwartz’s ideas for the internet.

]]> By: Jay Allison http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-143586 Jay Allison Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:12:26 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-143586 Fabulous hour. Full of concrete stuff and the philosophy behind it. And a lovely curve to the conversation too... following the paths of manipulated truths. Maybe it's the sign of a good teacher, but over the years I think I've actually absorbed some of Tony's ideas to the point that I now believe they were mine to begin with. I wish I had good Tony stories but I never met him. My cohorts The Kitchen Sisters spent time with him and made this piece for our Lost and Found Sound series: http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/990226.stories.html In a way, that series was an homage to Tony's work. He was the bona fide "sound hound," the man possessed by recorded sound. I think his example--one guy sitting in the middle of a ton of gear, totally absorbed with his mission--helped me feel less odd in my own enthusiasms. We are led by people at the extremes. One thing you didn't cover was his careful examination of his own zipcode (NY 19), a function of his agoraphobia. In the early 80s, we had a group of producers in New York, informed by Tony's work, and we did a kind of homage in a piece called "New York City: 24 Hours in Public Places." You can hear it here: http://www.transom.org/shows/2001/200109.shows.before.html and our friends at Hearing Voices ( http://www.hearingvoices.com/ ) will be including it an upcoming hour they're dedicating to Tony. anyway, thanks again for this affectionate, informative tribute. -Jay Fabulous hour. Full of concrete stuff and the philosophy behind it. And a lovely curve to the conversation too… following the paths of manipulated truths.

Maybe it’s the sign of a good teacher, but over the years I think I’ve actually absorbed some of Tony’s ideas to the point that I now believe they were mine to begin with.

I wish I had good Tony stories but I never met him. My cohorts The Kitchen Sisters spent time with him and made this piece for our Lost and Found Sound series:
http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/990226.stories.html
In a way, that series was an homage to Tony’s work. He was the bona fide “sound hound,” the man possessed by recorded sound. I think his example–one guy sitting in the middle of a ton of gear, totally absorbed with his mission–helped me feel less odd in my own enthusiasms. We are led by people at the extremes.

One thing you didn’t cover was his careful examination of his own zipcode (NY 19), a function of his agoraphobia. In the early 80s, we had a group of producers in New York, informed by Tony’s work, and we did a kind of homage in a piece called “New York City: 24 Hours in Public Places.” You can hear it here:
http://www.transom.org/shows/2001/200109.shows.before.html
and our friends at Hearing Voices ( http://www.hearingvoices.com/ ) will be including it an upcoming hour they’re dedicating to Tony.

anyway, thanks again for this affectionate, informative tribute.

-Jay

]]> By: hurley http://www.radioopensource.org/tony-schwartz-for-the-next-generation/comment-page-1/#comment-143415 hurley Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:55:40 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/?p=1256#comment-143415 Wonderful, evocative tribute. Few things more gratifying than to hear people speak warmly and reflectively of a mutual friend. I'd heard some of Schwartz's spots as a child, and of course never forgot them -- "Close the door" now added to the rest -- but had no idea of the idea, the ethos behind them. Something almost Beckettian in the the spareness, the insistence on the primacy of voice, and on its corollary, the imperative to LISTEN. Gratifying also to hear two Schwartzian adepts listening to one another, keenly, intently, with great concern -- David Hoffman paid Chris a rare and deserved courtesy there. I've sent this show out to friends, and it's already making waves, the left ones. Wonderful, evocative tribute. Few things more gratifying than to hear people speak warmly and reflectively of a mutual friend. I’d heard some of Schwartz’s spots as a child, and of course never forgot them — “Close the door” now added to the rest — but had no idea of the idea, the ethos behind them. Something almost Beckettian in the the spareness, the insistence on the primacy of voice, and on its corollary, the imperative to LISTEN. Gratifying also to hear two Schwartzian adepts listening to one another, keenly, intently, with great concern — David Hoffman paid Chris a rare and deserved courtesy there. I’ve sent this show out to friends, and it’s already making waves, the left ones.

]]>