Daniel Gross, PRX Intern, Says Hello

Rekha posted on Monday, October 17th, 2011 | Introductions

Well hello there.

I’m Daniel, PRX’s newest intern. I come to the ‘xchange by way of news radio work at 95.3 WHRB-Cambridge, 89.3 KPCC-Pasadena and PRI’s Living on Earth. These days I’m an undergrad at Harvard College, which puts me about two minutes away from work.

On a blustery day last spring, I was aimlessly Google-hopping between news and public radio internship listings. I’d never heard of Public Radio Exchange. It had never heard of me. PRX caught my eye well before I realized I could almost see it from my window. It seemed like just the place to make public radio more accessible, efficient, and fun. So now I’m here.

On the days I’m not, my home-at-school is the English Department, where I stare at large chunks of text all day and try to smuggle nonfiction into my fiction curriculum. In between, I work on a weekend WHRB show called As We Know It. We’re the largest college news radio group I can think of, weighing in at a whopping 6 persons (but 9 more in-training!). I try to spend at least one day a week interrupting people’s lives with a shotgun mic.

You may spot me holding a piece-of-junk guitar singing joke-folk songs. You probably won’t see me trying to partner dance. You may spy me squashing inky lead letters into pieces of paper at the Bow & Arrow Press. You probably won’t see me BASE jumping. You may encounter me in the kitchen with vegan ingredients. You probably won’t see me in a tie.

I’m allergic to cats, peanuts, kiwi, and all dishes made of fishes. Also call-in radio shows.

Late at night, when I’ve squeezed my podcasts dry and WBUR’s broadcast of All Things Considered is 18 hours away, I face an auditory vacuum of awful proportions. So I turn on the Public Radio Player and tune in to the exotic sound of Hawaii Public Radio. I’m sneaky. HPR broadcasts All Things Considered at 12am my time. As a result I know more about highway construction on the Big Island than anyone I know.

It’s nice to meet you.