Mike Morin: A Life in Radio

The Sydcast

Episode Summary

What is it like being on the radio? In New Hampshire, that means interviewing would-be Presidents, but for Mike Morin it also means being curious, open-minded, and occasionally even pulling crazy stunts that upset half of his listeners. A life in radio in the “Live Free or Die” state.

Sydney Finkelstein

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Mike Morin

All-around media man Mike Morin began his writing career in 2004 with his first humor column in the Nashua Telegraph. Since then, his list of publications includes this magazine, The Boston Globe, the New Hampshire Business Review, Clean Eating, and more. He’s also the author of several books, including “50 Shades of Radio” and his most recent, “Lunch With Tommy and Stasia,” about the glory days of candlepin bowling (for which he was a TV announcer once upon a time). He spent more than four decades in radio, with a memorable stint on WZID’s morning show. He took some time off from broadcasting but has since returned to the early morning radio waves – you can find him on 106.3 FM, Monday to Friday, from 6-9 a.m.

Insights from this episode:

• When Mike discovered he wanted to be on radio
• Mike’s life growing up
• How Mike got on radio
• What makes a good talk show host
• Maintaining a bond with your listeners
• Interesting guests Mike has interviewed
• Being on air after 9/11
• Life after vocal cord surgery

Quotes from the show:

• “Within a year, I actually had my first professional radio job while I was still in college. So I was driven, and I was determined i’m not gonna wait till my degree to get my first job” —Mike Morin [11:20]
• “Everybody has a story, you just have to know how to get it out of them. So to get people to talk to me, you have to know the kind of buttons to push” —Mike Morin [14:08]
• “At some point you have to come terms with the fact that there’s someone that is just larger than ordinary, and ideally embrace it and love it, respect it and admire it, but not let it get you kind of in a funk, or down ” —Syd Finkelstein [32:49]
• “This is one of the tricks I have learned over the years, is when you interview people, you give them one or two kind of soft ball questions and let them get comfortable with you” —Mike Morin [38:34]
• “Thinking out of the box is what you gotta do sometime, doesn’t always work. When you take a chance and bet on yourself, good things do happen” —Mike Morin [42:25]
• “First of all, no matter who you have on, you’re gonna upset your half your audience (…) People don’t accept you for your views these days, they just accept you if they like you, or not” —Mike Morin [46:59]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Mike Morin

Website: Mike Morin

Facebook: Mike Morin

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.