How to get warm and fuzzy on International radio

By Josh Tapper

One of the beauties of journalism is that even the most innocuous story can catch a wave and resonate with people hundreds of kilometres away from the city newspaper in which it was first published. And so when another media outlet asks you to talk about one of those stories, you can't help but get a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Thursday morning I received a call from a producer at Public Radio International’s news program “The World” – it’s jointly produced with the BBC World Service and receives airplay on most American public radio stations and CBC Radio One. They wanted to interview me about a story I wrote for the Star's Living section earlier in the week: the Occupy Toronto movement was recently donated three Mongolian gers, which are now sitting among hundreds of tents in St. James Park.

                                                                                                (Photo by Josh Tapper/Toronto Star)

The gers, wood-and-canvas huts used by nomads on the Mongolian steppe, are an unusual sight in downtown Toronto. And at a cost of over $20,000, they don’t seem to jive with the protesters MO. But hey, the temperature is dropping and these gers have felt insulation.

My interview was slotted between a segment on the relationship between the size of your social network and the size of your brain and a report on Peru’s new minister of culture, near the end of the hour-long program. Lisa Mullins, longtime anchor of “The World,” asked the questions. What are the gers used for? Library, medical tent, general meeting place. What do they look like? Circular, colourful, ornate. How do they differ from yurts, a Central Asian cousin? Don't get me started.

                                                                                                (Photo by Josh Tapper/Toronto Star)

The interview happened at St. James Park, inside one of the gers, and captured a really on-the-ground vibe. I tend to run my mouth when I'm given an outlet, so it was a relief to hear I was reasonably coherent and professional.

Still, my tape starts out with a laid-back "Yeah ... hey!"

Listen to the interview here. But read the article first.

 

Josh Tapper is a reporter in the Star's one-year program and has occupied yurts in Kyrgyzstan and Russia's Buryatia province. You can find him on Twitter.