What I’ve been up to
This newsletter’s first listicle
The two questions I get constantly these days are, “What have you been doing since you left NPR?” and, “Will public radio be ok?” I already answered the second question here. Strangely, even though the “What have you been up to?” question is less complicated, I find answering it to be unexpectedly hard.
Inevitably I start by saying, “A lot of things...” And then I start barking disjointed phrases like, “A cabaret show! A speech about AI! A pilot for CNN!” I’m kind of all over the place. Which is not a bad thing! In fact, that was sort of my intention when I left the company where I had worked for 25 years.
These last few months, I have loved being able to accept invitations. It’s fun to say yes. I enjoy getting to work in different modes and exercise different muscle groups. I’m on the road more than I’m home. And so, because the story of how I’ve spent this time is so haphazard, today I thought I’d answer the question as best I can…in the form of a listicle.
A partial list of what I’ve done since leaving NPR at the end of September:
Performed with Pink Martini in eleven states: Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, California, Texas, Illinois, and Oregon. In March I’ll join the band again for shows in New Mexico and Arizona, with more dates to come in the summer.
Received the Damon Runyon journalism award in Denver, Colorado.
Chopped firewood at a former commune among the California redwoods. (If you’re interested in visiting, you can learn more about cabin rentals, workshops, and the Schools of Salmon Creek here.)
Delivered a speech about artificial intelligence at the Amazon Business Reshape conference in Seattle.
Read a lot of books. And then some more books.
Interviewed Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick in New Albany, Ohio.
Performed with Taylor Mac in Connecticut and New York.
Interviewed the CEO of Patagonia for the WBUR Breakfast Club in Boston.
Snorkeled through an underwater sculpture park off the island of Grenada.
Filmed a CNN pilot with Audie Cornish. We’ll be reuniting at On Air Fest in Brooklyn later this month!
Performed my solo cabaret show, “Thank You For Listening,” in Modesto, Santa Cruz, Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York.
I think it’s important for me to say that the list above is a fraction of everything I’ve explored doing in the last few months. Many of the projects that I’ve tried to get off the ground have not (yet) taken flight. I point that out, because I think it’s easy to get the false impression that successful people only ever experience success. We only tend to hear about things that work; ideas that die on the vine rarely make it into a newsletter. In commencement speeches, I often tell graduates that success isn’t the absence of failure but rather what inevitably follows repeated failure. So I’m grateful for the opportunities that have come my way so far, and I’m also grateful for the things that have not materialized. They’ve cleared the way for whatever might be just around the corner.
Extra! Extra! Extra!
It is easy to sniff at social media, at advertising, at fashion… especially when there are so many urgent five alarm fires burning all around us. But my God, when I was scrolling Instagram and stumbled across the new Mugler ad campaign featuring British performance artist David Hoyle, it was exactly what I needed.
I could launch into a treatise here about the importance of camp, the history of Mugler, or why David Hoyle should be considered a national treasure in the UK. But instead, just watch these videos below and tell me if they don’t immediately improve your day:
Love this Ari, because I’m asked a similar question. I’ve been busy! Apart from house projects, I have traveled; I can say yes to lunch and dinner and matinee performances and other areas of my life that received short shrift when I was in daily journalism are now thriving once more. Cheers, my friend.
Loved you with Pink Martini ❤️ .. such a wonderful voice!!! and saw you Audie Cornish … and I’m old enough to remember listening to you on NPR.. Keep doing what you’re doing Ari !!!