The Hungry Engineer

Spectrum Radio

04 Nov 2010

Back before I was gainfully employed, a nice lady emailed me and asked if I’d be interested in doing an interview for Spectrum Radio for their Geeks Cooking series. After some noncommittal emailing on my part, I found out the “Spectrum” in that title referred to the IEEE Spectrum magazine. IEEE, for those not in the know, is the professional organization for, basically, electrical engineers.

IEEE logo

I fussed and I worried and I forwarded the email to Sean to ask him what he thought. Later that same day, well after I had forgotten that I ever asked his opinion, Sean came bursting into whatever room I was sitting in and said, “It’s the I-frickin’-triple-E!” At my quizzical look, he huffed in exasperation and spelled it out for me. Of course I should do the interview, he said, it’s the I-frickin’-triple-E.

Though this was all well outside my comfort zone, I knew he was right. It’s not as though I had a lot going on, and the experience would be good for me. For those of you that remember me having a radio show in college and are wondering what my deal is at doing one tiny radio interview, try also to remember how little I actually talked during my show. I claimed it was all about the rock, and to a degree that was true. But it was also very much about not broadcasting my voice over the airwaves.

I agreed to the interview, and the nice lady then sent me a couple of example interviews so I would know what to expect. I gave them a listen. One was with Homaru Cantu, renowned molecular gastronomer, and the other was with Harold McGee. Harold! McGee! Yeah, the On Food and Cooking guy. I was certain that she had the wrong woman, and I tried to talk her out of interviewing me. She insisted that she wanted folks from a variety of culinary backgrounds.

Not long after, I went for my interview. Given my general social apprehension and of course the certainty that I was out of my depth, I plunged into the recording studio thinking, “Well, at least it’ll be over soon.” I fidgeted as they worked their way through a variety of technical hitches before finally, the interview was on. Everyone was perfectly pleasant and let me blather on and on and on about whatever popped into my head. I have no idea whether or not I did well; I’m too self-conscious to listen to it.

However - and be assured, I have serious misgivings about doing this - if you’d like to check it out, here is a link to my IEEE Spectrum Radio interview. Given my nerves, I’m guessing I came out an octave or so higher than my normal speaking voice. Hopefully I’ve not made too much of an ass of myself. Either way, enjoy!

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