Let me start by saying no one deserves a little bit of a rest more than Kojo Nnamdi. I've spoken before about how I began listening back in the "Public Interest" days, watched as the show changed to a more local entry, and saw how that allowed the show to do things they could not before. Kojo is the best example of how people who come here as adults (ish) can embrace the width and breadth of the city, can work to learn it and love it.
The first time I went to volunteer at WAMU, back when people still manned the phone lines, back when the station was atop the tallest hill in Tenleytown, (oddly very near my orthodontist), one if the producers of the show came to thank the volunteers, and told us how much she loved working on the show and with Kojo.
Over the years I volunteered more with WAMU, earning myself a t-shirt with the show logo at one live event. The Kojo in Your Community events I loved as a listener and a volunteer. Kojo's interest in the hyperlocal, whether it was people in the arts, people worried about school funding, or people trying to support restaurants showed how hyperlocal often rippled out, that the things that might be in the part of the paper that people skip over, reflect the larger issues of the day too.
He also has such a radio voice, that his deciding to continue broadcasting during what turned out to be an earthquake is so very him, and honestly likely what folks listening in the moment needed.
I have a feeling that much like Diane Rehm or the Hot Jazz show, he won't really disappear from our airways. He's already committed to continuing both the Politics Hour and community events, and I think -after some well deserved rest, we might see a few other things.
Regardless, the many many hours of things have already been so much and I am ever so grateful. I had transitioned to a listener in podcast form, but today I set an alert to listen live.
