Intro to Radio.

What is the class?

The one that started it all and the most important class in terms of my career on the radio. Intro to Radio is likely to be one of the first classes you will take as a journalism student and it is an extremely important one all the same. Taught by Memphis radio veteran TK King, this class shows students the ins and outs of radio and radio broadcasting, with the final assignment being an hour-long radio episode on a topic of the students' choosing. Me being me, I selected movies. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this episode is long-gone, seeing as it was recorded on a library laptop over the course of a single night. This class laid the seeds for my passion in radio and without it, I wouldn't even have a show to call my own.

Role in the history of EAT YOUR MAKEUP.

EAT YOUR MAKEUP was a very different show when I was just laying it out. Bear in mind I took this class before I had taken Multimedia Storytelling, Opinion and Feature Writing, so this very early form of the show was much more raw, free-form and completely lacking in style. For starters, the show back then wasn't called EAT YOUR MAKEUP, it was instead referred to as THE HOUSE THAT JAKE BUILT (a reference to the Lars von Trier film THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT) and had a much darker viewpoint. Originally, the show was going to be only about horror and art films and was focused much more on improvisation (a decision that led to the show being a huge mess that I am glad is now lost media) over scripting, a misguided approach that I am glad I left in the past.

A few of my favorite episodes of the show

Season 3, Episode 3, "PROOF OF THE MAN," featuring Dr. Jin Yang.

This episode was the first ROAR show to feature a professor sharing research, as well as my first in-studio guest. Dr. Jin Yang and myself sat down and discussed the 1977 Japanese mystery-drama film PROOF OF THE MAN, as well as Dr. Yang's research on the acceptance of interracial relationships in Japan. This episode is the one I consider to be the greatest one I have done, and was half the reason I won Outstanding Audio Package at the 2024 JRSM Awards.

Season 4, Episode 1, "Murder in the Movies: M, ANGST & HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER."

What a way to kick off the season with this disturbing exploration of serial murder in various films and how these films reflected their societies' fears surrounding serial killers. This episode also features selections from my own research on the topic and it is one I hold in very high esteem, especially after the 2024 JRSM Awards, where this was the other half of why I won Outstanding Audio Package.

Season 2, Episode 4, "I Hate You, I Love You Too: GUILTY OF ROMANCE & COLD FISH."

Though season 2 is my least favorite season for a variety of reasons, namely because it was mostly films I wanted to do in season 1 but couldn't for whatever reason, I still have a huge soft spot for this episode in particular. Sion Sono is one of my favorite directors and this episode explores two of his darkest, most disturbing films.