Going Loopy

Posted at 6:29 PM on October 20, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I'm a real fan of blowing things up and starting over. The words I hate, even more than "and that loss eliminates the Cleveland Indians from postseason contention" are "we've always done it this way."

That's why I'm a big fan of In the Loop, MPR's new program that believes in taking a different look at things, and involving people in our vast audience in storytelling. It's not that I'm against pointyheads and serious sobering discussion, a longtime staple of public radio, of course. It's just that I think it's OK to consider weighty issues in different ways, ways in which I don't feel a sense of despair afterwards.

Stop me if this sounds familiar to you.

So it's cool that The Loop this month -- and just in the nick of time if you ask me -- swooped in and took on the sacred cow: politics. Now a disclaimer: Jeff Horwich and Sanden Totten -- the big Loop dudes -- asked Mike Mulcahy and me to share our thoughts on what a different approach might look like. They then had the good sense not to use my cockamamie ideas.

Which is good, since they weren't any better than this lineup:

Tom Scheck's look at "trackers"

The voice-over artists

Why people don't vote

The student council election

There was more in this week's show than I got around to posting, but the Loop doesn't really have a completely functioning Web site yet.

You can hear the show tonight at 9 or download an mp3 version on their current page, however.

Comments (1)

I agree wholeheartedly. I can't give high enough praise to The Loop - and I've been recommending it to everyone I meet. The Loop recording I attended on immigration (in the spring) was the most creative and thoughtful look at that issue that I've ever seen.

Posted by Victoria Ford | October 23, 2006 10:08 AM

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