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We mourned the passing of a New Haven institution in episode 2, and we wish Dieter and the gang at Richter’s the best of luck. We chose Richter’s because a.) I’ve been going there for years, and b.) at the end of Episode 1, while wandering Chapel Street, we decided to record at Richter’s – only to find out they were closing. Duo saw it’s demise as a metaphor for the shift from face to face conversation to the decidedly ethereal relationships we’ve cultivated on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo by Bruce Barber

Seeing Dieter that day reminded me of Lou Mannheim’s advice to Bud Fox in Wall Street: “Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.” Dieter will be fine.

In this episode, recorded on June 23rd (just a few days before the official closing) we sat down with a few of our selections for the “gang of provocateurs” – our guest editors – to get a feel for the transitional times we’re living in, as well as some of the things we should be talking about the the Guide.

We ended the episode with a few thoughts from Dieter himself.

Podcast: Download

The Real Life Survival Guide Radio Show returned to the airwaves this afternoon at 4:30 on WNPR. The first big difference from season 1 (November 2007 – June 2008): I have a cohost! (I’ve never been a great solo performer. In radio, at least.)

Duo

His name is Duo Dickinson. He’s an architect, author, self proclaimed “swamp yankee” and committed family man. Duo is also much smarter than I am, and trust me when I tell you that this is high praise coming from me, the world’s greatest narcissist. He’s a natural performer, can turn a phrase with the best of them, and represents one of the great blessings of this endeavor.

I’ve known Du since we attended the same high school - The Park School of Buffalo - in the mid seventies. I  clearly remember him ringing “the gong” (think ‘NBC chimes’, not Chuck Barris) in the school lunchroom to announce meetings of Park’s literary magazine, Wild Oats. Interestingly enough, in addition to such romantic pursuits Duo was an accomplished football player capable of delivering as much pain as any of Park’s would be poets.

Duo went on to Cornell, studied architecture, and eventually followed his mentor to Madison Connecticut. I went to Hobart, joined a fraternity, got into radio (among other things), and ended up doing morning shows in Buffalo, and later, New Haven. We reconnected at a Habitat for Humanity event a few years back, and the rest, as they say, is history…

The Edirol R-09

The “Tools of the Trade” Have Changed

When I first met with John Dankosky to talk about bringing the show back, he urged me to treat the process as an opportunity to experiment – and that’s exactly what we did. The pilot was created using only a small, handheld digital audio recorder – the Edirol R-09 – and edited on an iMac using Apple’s Soundtrack Pro. This provided us with a great deal of creative freedom.

And Away We Go!

The first episode was recorded on June 9th, among the chipmunks in my backyard in New Haven, with a conversation about this new iteration of the guide. Duo’s suggestion was that we identify a “gang of provocateurs” to help us curate community requests for advice.

I hope you’ll follow along – and join in the conversations if you feel urge!