Alix: Lulu, Anne and I made two
pilot episodes while we were
also doing news reporting. We
sort of made them after-hours
and in-between the cracks, and
then finally shared them with
the people at NPR who make
decisions. They were all incredibly kind and supportive about
everything, and helped us think
through how to go forward, and
what was working, and what
wasn’t.
Did you learn lessons from
the previous shows that you
were able to apply to Invisibilia? Things that you kept in
the back pocket and said, “We
are never, ever, no way, doing
that.”
Alix: I gotta say working at This
American Life was one of the
best things that ever happened
to me, and I didn’t walk away
with much in the way of - never
going to do that. The only thing
that I can think of that falls into
New Jersey Stage
that category for me are the
hours that (TAL host) Ira Glass
worked. He worked CRAZY
hours. C-R-A-Z-Y.
Lulu: Actually, mine is the same
answer! Darn lucky to have ever
ended up at Radiolab, changed
me and my ability to tell stories
unthinkably, but I’ll add two or
three more “As” to the C-R-A-AA-A-Z-Y of hours worked there.
Now that the show is up and
running, do you feel that those
“never evers” may inevitably
creep back?
Alix: In the last month the hours
have been pretty bad, but I’m
crossing my fingers that this is
just a phase that we are passing through and a more sane life
awaits in the near future (‘she
said as the clock reading 11:30
pm blinks just to the side of her
computer.’)
Was there any trepidation
in telling that initial story,
even though you knew how it
January 2015
pg 118