Today I watched two videos from Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad. Both are linked below.
In these videos, Jad Abumrad discusses the impact and uniqueness of radio. I was most intrigued by his ideas about connection between people. The way people interact with radio is different than movies or TV. It requires one person to describe and the listener to imagine. This is a more involved process than watching something as it requires imagination. Descriptions also have to be detailed in specific ways.
I had never thought about the relationship between speaker and listener in this way. He called it “coimagining.” There are several layers of interpretation that any radio story goes through before anyone even hears it. All of these ideas must be in sync or the story will change and the impact lessen. Then it is given to the public where people have to use their own thoughts to fill in the gaps. This is a really cool idea. I think I need to spend more time listening to radio shows.
