Radio, radio

Heard two very thought-provoking things on public radio lately. One, and I just don’t know what program it was on, was a very interesting roundtable discussion of religious fundamentalism. It had fundamentalists of several faiths discussing their beliefs intelligently and reasonably, and the whole thing was quite enlightening. Here were people who presented their views without trying to diminish the views of others, who weren’t spewing hate in the name of their beliefs, and it seemed somewhat of a relief to know they were out there, because it certainly isn’t the current image of fundamentalism. I’m non-religious and very much believe in each person’s right to believe whatever he or she believes in — up to the point where that person’s belief is that they have to convert me to their beliefs. I used to be patient with proselytizers, but I’ve now figured out that that only encourages them. Now they get told, “I have a religion,” and the door gets closed. (That’s a little trickier when they catch me out in the driveway, but I usually find a way.) And of course, it is in the course of these attempted conversions that I have my only contacts with fundamentalists. Between that and all the global fundamentalist-generated violence throughout the world, and the media’s general lack of enlightenment with regard to presenting topics of religion (like science, they haven’t figured out you can’t cover this topic by presenting opposing viewpoints), I have had a dim view of fundamentalism. So it was refreshing to hear from reasoned people who could speak of their faith without rattling sabres, threatening hellfire, and constantly invoking the name of their particular god/savior/whatever every fifteen seconds.

The other, decidedly more secular, was Terry Gross’s interview with Tim Curry on “Fresh Air.” She’s a great interviewer — not only does she do her homework, she actually listens to what people say to her. Then, based on what they said, she asks followup questions. That may not seem earth-shattering, but look around at interview shows. For great interviewing, there’s Howard Stern, there’s Terry Gross, and there’s just nobody else. Anyway, in the midst of talking about his appearance in “Spamalot” and the origin of “Rocky Horror,” she got him talking about his singing. I learned something I did not know, that boy sopranos, gifted with that clear beautiful voice in youth, often grow up to have no singing voice at all — that would be me. His singing coach, trying to get him into a falsetto, asked if he had been a boy soprano, and told him, “You’re in mourning for that sound, aren’t you?” Something I had never thought about, and yet there it is. Interesting.