"Hi, I鈥檓 Stephanie Haney, the new host of the 'Sound of Ideas' on NPR member station 89.7 WKSU, 蜜桃导航."
That鈥檚 a sentence I鈥檝e been saying a lot lately, and it鈥檚 one I鈥檓 very excited and honored to repeat.
Along the road to arriving at Ideastream, I鈥檝e been lucky to launch a variety of different shows throughout my career.
While living in New York, I was a correspondent for the first and second seasons of "DailyMailTV." That was a nationally syndicated magazine show highlighting the news from DailyMail.com. It was a novel idea: Take the 鈥渟eriously popular鈥� website and put its most-read stories on television, to reach a whole new audience. Before the show wrapped for the last time, I鈥檓 proud to say we won the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Entertainment News Program in 2019, up against fellow nominees "Access Hollywood," "Entertainment Tonight," "Extra" and "Inside Edition."
A few months later, I moved home to Ohio, where I was hired by WKYC to be their first-ever 鈥渄igital anchor,鈥� creating and hosting several video podcasts over the course of my time there, while also contributing to what was then their brand-new 5 p.m. show, "What鈥檚 New."
We debuted in that new timeslot with a largely untested format in January 2020, just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic changed all of our lives so drastically. That sort of derailed many of our experimental dreams, but even so, the efforts of that team were recognized with a regional Emmy Award for Best Daytime Newscast in 2021, sharing the win with WEWS, TV 5.
I bring these shows up (both of which are no longer on the air, at least not as they originally existed), to point out that while doing something that hasn鈥檛 been done before 鈥� particularly during a pandemic 鈥� is hard and fun and all-around something very special, stepping into an established program like the "Sound of Ideas," with its many prestigious awards and an audience that鈥檚 been building for decades, is an incredible privilege, with its own unique challenges.
Care must be taken to make sure you鈥檙e bringing to the table your full self and all of your enthusiasm for what鈥檚 possible, while also respecting the history that made the show a success long before you came along. Combine this with the pressures of an ever-changing media landscape, and you鈥檝e got yourself a recipe that could very easily lead to disaster.
Not with this team, though.
I started with 蜜桃导航 on Aug. 26. In my few short weeks with this company thus far, the cast of characters that make up the "Sound of Ideas" team has met me each day with open minds and patient hearts as I learn the ins and outs of a predominantly radio world. They鈥檝e delivered every detailed explanation 鈥� 鈥淵es,鈥� 鈥淣o,鈥� and 鈥淲e鈥檒l have to have a meeting about that,鈥� with the same thoughtful approach they bring to producing the conversations that take place in each of our shows. It鈥檚 been a true joy to learn from my brand new batch of colleagues and stretch all of our comfort zones together, as we move toward finding our collective groove for whatever this team鈥檚 version of the "Sound of Ideas" will be.
What will that look and sound like? It鈥檚 hard to say just yet. I know I鈥檓 inspired by the hosts that have come before me, including current "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable" host and Ideastream Executive Editor Mike McIntyre. I鈥檓 encouraged by the tenacity of producers Leigh Barr, Aya Cathey, Drew Maziasz and Rachel Rood. And I鈥檓 in awe of the technical savvy of Samson Auble, Chris Dudley, Ygal Kaufman, Jason Liechti, J. Nungesser and the entire engineering department, which continues to make adapting a radio show into a video-friendly, multi-platform program look far easier than it is.
For all of these reasons tied specifically to all of these people, I鈥檓 deeply optimistic about all of the innovative things we will do together that haven鈥檛 even occurred to us yet.
I hope that if you鈥檙e reading this, you鈥檒l come along with us on this journey, whether you鈥檙e a lifelong listener or just joining the "Sound of Ideas" party. Whichever camp you fall into, I鈥檓 happy you鈥檙e here and I hope you鈥檒l share your perspective with us, along the way.
To catch the "Sound of Ideas," you can tune in live at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on 89.7 FM WKSU or the 蜜桃导航 app, and watch our show live, streaming on . (Friday is the Roundtable, but rest assured, I'm off camera, working on the next week's shows.)
If you鈥檇 rather tune in later, you can watch full episodes on the 蜜桃导航 YouTube page and listen wherever you get your podcasts. We also re-air each show at 9 p.m. on 89.7 FM WKSU.
To send us your questions or comments, call us at 866-578-0903 during the show, email us any time at SOI@Ideastream.org or send us a message on Instagram at @thesoundofideas.
You can reach me directly on Instagram at @_StephanieHaney.
"The Cut" is featured in 蜜桃导航's weekly newsletter, The Frequency Week in Review. To get The Frequency Week in Review, The Daily Frequency or any of our newsletters, sign up on Ideastream's newsletter subscription page.
