WRBH Blog: Introducing Audio Portraits!

Audio Portraits: WRBH’s Newest Original Program

Written by Shaun Johnson

WRBH’s newest original program is hosted and produced by me, Shaun Johnson. With an interview style format, guests come on the show to talk about how they navigate through their fields and why they chose to make their passion their careers. My hope is to give insight into the creative and innovative mind.

My idea for the show originated from a need to showcase some of the talented individuals who come through our station. Currently, we have Charlie’s Music Show, The Writers Forum, Public Affairs, and Nola by Mouth (formerly The Chef Show) which all give voice to various excelling professionals. But Irealized there are still many creative avenues that need to be explored— we needed a show that is a little more open to interpretation, and has a wider range of possibilities. And so far, Audio Portraits has taken that path.

I want Audio Portraits to be interactive. We’re going to try and hold on to outtakes, find ways to get the listeners more involved and hopefully keep promoting the guests that took the time to come on the show. WRBH is all about having a positive impact on people’s lives and this show aims to connect the listeners with the interviewees. New Orleans is such an intrinsically unique and creative city; it’s not hard to imagine many people have a passion that they are pursuing. There must be something that drives them when they first wake up in the morning, something that motivates them to work harder than the day before. That “something” is what Audio Portraits is all about.

So far I’ve had guests like Aaron Williamson, a rising star in the city of New Orleans. He’s an Ex-Marine who has forged a new path for his life. He’s also a personal training/consultant for many Hollywood celebrities, a health writer and now an actor as well. One of my other guests, Vic Granata, spoke about what it’s like to run your own full service design studio. We’ve showcased fashion design, photography, and many other forms of design on this already expanding list.

On a personal note, I love human interaction. We all have a story that is uniquely our own and is vastly intriguing. There are connective threads that can be found in all of us if we just take the time to truly listen. We are all busy just trying to maintain our lives and often don’t have time to dive into the minds of every interesting person we meet. My goal is for Audio Portraits to be an opportunity for listeners to gain a more in-depth understanding of how others’ motivations in life relate to the motivating urges within ourselves.

Audio Portraits airs on WRBH 88.3 FM Thursdays at 4pm and Sundays at 1:30pm. The show will also be archived on the WRBH sound cloud page, who’s link is below. If you are interested in being on the show, or just want to give feedback please email me at shaun@wrbh.org.

(SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/wrbhreadingradio/sets/audio-portraits)