Public radio host Glynn Washington had what you might call an unconventional start to his career. Back in 2007, he won a nationwide talent search to find the next great public radio host, and got a grant to produce a pilot episode of “Snap Judgment.”
Now, the storytelling radio show airs on more than 400 public radio stations, including WFPL on Saturdays at 2 p.m. Washington will bring the show to Louisville Sunday. WFPL's Jean West spoke with him about his work, and how he came to love the art of storytelling.
Washington on the power of storytelling:
"You know, when I first was starting Snap Judgment, I was watching the program on television, "Crossfire," and you have, you know, two idiots that are shouting at each other. And no one in the history of time has ever changed their mind and their position on their perspective from that kind of dialogue. But it happens all the time when someone says, 'this is my story. This is what happened to me. You're not gonna believe this, but...'
"And it's the closest thing that we have to actually wearing someone else's shoes and inhabiting someone else's skin — the story, and people send us stories all the time. And yes, we listen to every single one."
On what he wants people to take away from his show:
"We want to put you in someone else's skin. I want these to be the stories that you take home in the car, that you bring up at the dinner table, that you talk to your spouse about at breakfast. And that's how I put the stories from from us to you."
“Snap Judgment LIVE!” with Glynn Washington will take place at the Brown Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. There's more information here.