Tom_Ashbrook_NPR

Radio techniques do not work for family gatherings! Trust me! On air, I'm always looking to get the value a caller brings. When we've got it, we're done. On Point is not about chit chat. We've got big stuff to wrestle with. But I always try to extend respect, and look for the value, the insight that's there.

Yeah, no doubt. Unless he had Sarah Vowell with him. Or did that death stare thing. Then I'd be in trouble.

It's an awesome job. No question about it. But it takes a ton of work off-air. My producers are terrific at doing the research putting together background material for every show. But I have absorb all that, plus the books! I typically spend a couple of hours every night cramming for the next day's shows. I read deeply into every book, and have become a wicked speed reader. And then, knowledge is cumulative. After fifteen years now of doing this show, my brain is loaded for bear! Life experience helps too, right? I've lived all over the world, known the US from the middle and the coasts, and am lucky enough to have friends in high and low places. Low's more fun! And it all counts.

I've been deeply moved so many times on the show. From surprising angles. Peter Drucker was great. He was 90+ when we spoke, and stone deaf. But he read the questions and answered with such zest. Inspiring. Annie Leibovitz, the photographer was amazing, talking about her love for Susan Sontag - the great philosopher of photography. Ted Kooser, the poet laureate out of Indiana, brought me to tears with his poetic memories. On the other had, Candace Bushnell, who wrote the original Sex and the City... I thought I'd love her, and did not. Seemed mutual. don't know why!

Oh, one horse sized duck for sure. I am not afraid of big ducks. You can quote me on that. But little ducky horses really freak me out. Crowds in general, not my fave. And as a tall guy, lots of little stuff underfoot is unsettling. Especially tiny horses. Do they whinny or quack?