Mostly, these days, if I'm out and about with other staff members, invariably students, I'll push them at the interesting people to interview, and give them some question suggestions. The mission of the station is training students in radio, after all, so while I'm happy to do what's needed, I also know I've been on the air enough that I don't need to hear myself talk on the radio.
Last night, I spent a fair amount of the night driving around with Nick, a young student who's very interested and I think has a lot of potential. I put him in front of the well-spoken new Tompkins County Republican Party Chair down at the Royal Court (which was remarkably empty, probably the deadest I've seen it on election night) and he did fine.
Best of all, though, was the interview with one of the local election inspector volunteers. I recognized Pat when she walked into the Board of Elections, and Nick was able to talk to her on the air for a few minutes. The highlight of her day was the young woman from China who'd just recently become a U.S. citizen. Her parents flew in to take pictures of their little girl voting for the first time.
