NEWS AND NOTES
Tuned In
>>> Following two years of planning and development, The Briefing Powered by Dartmouth premiered on SiriusXM Radio’s Insight channel March 21. The weekly program,
hosted by Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Mike Mastanduno, provides in-depth analysis of cur- rent events through conversations with faculty experts. “The show is a vehicle for showcasing the deep tal- ent we’ve got here,” says Mastandu- no. “This isn’t a bunch of academics talking about academic stuff.”
Professors Brendan Nyhan, Marcelo Gleiser and Annelise Orleck have all recently visited The Briefing to discuss topics ranging from po- litical primaries to the Large Hadron Collider and the resurgence of the labor movement. Mastanduno says the show allows him to engage with his colleagues on a deeper level: “This is a great chance for me to talk to people on the faculty about something other than parking.”
Mastanduno, who has no prior experience in radio, transfers skills developed in the classroom to the broadcast studio. “The challenge is to generate intellectual curiosity, ask good questions and draw out your guests. That takes a little practice,” he says, adding that he’s also learn- ing the art of gracefully interrupting guests when they start to get long- winded or use academic jargon.
SiriusXM, which currently claims more than 27 million subscribers, initially approached the College in 2013 with the idea of producing a liberal arts radio channel dedicated exclusively to Dartmouth-generated content. Administrators deemed the idea too labor-intensive and decided instead to focus on a single pilot program. “One of our goals is to replicate this show with other shows on different topics,” says Mastanduno. SiriusXM hasn’t provided official listener counts for The Briefing, but Mastanduno has received positive feedback from top executives at the company. “So far, so good,” he says.
