Kids are Smarter Than We Think/ We College Kids are Lucky
What I intend to do is focus on speaking to my nieces and recording their responses to various questions, then editing it until I’ve captured the most cute/funny/poignent examples of the things kids say. I think it’ll pretty much just be a conversation, though I’ll draw up a list of questions so that hopefully I can elicit some insightful responses from them. An example of questions I might ask are “Who are your friends? Why?” (I’ve asked them this before and it’s really funny). Also I’ll ask them what they did on their vacation and things like that. But I’ll probably throw in a few more serious questions too like “What’s something that makes you happy?” and yes, maybe even “What do you think is love?” My main goal is for this to be cute/funny but hopefully the climax will be something really insightful that they hit upon. Oh, and for the record my nieces are 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 yrs old, so that should give different perspectives on the same questions.
Or, on a totally different track, I thought that I could have my mom speak about her mother. My grandmother’s mother abandoned her family when my grandmother was a teenager and she had to raise her little sister virtually single-handedly. She was a brilliant woman who never got to go to college because she was too busy being a surrogate mother. I thought I’d have my mom do the talking for this one because a) she knows the stories and b) she has a really nice speaking voice.
For the people who are supposed to be reading my proposal and commenting on it, and for anyone else who’s reading this, I thought you could tell me which idea is more intriguing to you because as of now I have absolutely no idea which direction to go in.
4 responses so far
Pessia, I think both could elicit great stories. Very different stories, with different moods. The first is lighter, cuter, sweeter, happier. The second is more serious, nostalgic, possibly sad, bittersweet, ummmm…you know, the feeling of a memorial: it evokes contemplation. Both would be relatable, potentially, but in different ways. For me it’s a hard call. I guess it depends on what sort of “feeling” you feel like indulging in over the coming weeks. Light-hearted or more contemplative? Those are my first thoughts.
I’m having a hard time deciding which story I would be more interested in because both sound good. The first one has a sort of “Kids Say the Darnest Things” feel which could be very amusing and cute. But the second one is a very touching story that people also would enjoy. Personally I like lighter messages and I think that the first one would be very enjoyable to listen to. I think finding a message in it may be slightly harder since answers from little kids can be unpredictable, but it would pay off.
I think i like your second idea better, but for selfish reasons. I really wanted to do my radio show interviewing my great grandfather about his life experiences, but he passed away a few weeks ago, so i cant. But i wish i could, and i wish i got all the stories while i was still able to.
Both of your ideas will make great radio shows, but i think you should grab this opportunity to find out some new things about your heritage. Good Luck!
I really like your second idea because I feel it could have more of an impact on the listener. Though your first idea is great because it has the potential to be very funny and lighthearted, I think that interviewing your mother will work better because it will be a more sensitive and personal topic that people will listen to more. In this way, you would also be using an anecdote like Ira Glass recommended to really hook your listeners and have them relate and understand your overall point.