ST. FRANCIS – Often in radio, talk show hosts gain experience in a market the size of Milwaukee and then move to Chicago.
In the case of Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, his experience in the late ‘70s was at WIND, Chicago. His new gig is at Relevant Radio, WPJP, Port Washington.
Beginning Friday, Sept. 10, 9:30 a.m., Archbishop Listecki’s program, “Living Our Faith,” will be heard biweekly on 101.1 FM. On alternate weeks, beginning Sept. 17, “New Heart, New Spirit” with Fr. Don Hying, rector of Saint Francis Seminary, will air. The priest’s program had been airing on the first Saturday of the month since last September.
Archbishop Listecki was effusive when he spoke to your Catholic Herald about radio.
“I love radio as a medium. You can have it on when you work, while you’re driving in the car or relaxing,” the archbishop said. “It has tremendous potential.”
Co-hosting the 30-minute program is Bob Dolan, who also co-hosts the “Living Our Faith” TV show.
Julie Wolf, communications director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and producer of “Living Our Faith,” said that the Archbishop Listecki-Dolan combination worked well during the four radio programs that were taped Aug. 20.
“They played off each other very well,” she said. Each of the programs included guests, who, along with the archbishop, answered questions posed by Dolan.
Wolf noted that the program is not a news show.
“Our goal is to inform, invite and inspire listeners,” she said. “It’s another vehicle to communicate with Catholics.”
Archbishop Listecki said, “Radio is at its optimum when it invites you to conversation. It allows you to eavesdrop on a conversation.”
One of the keys, he said, is to make sure “the conversation is focused.”
“We want to talk about God’s activity in their lives,” the archbishop said. “We have a lot to help people discover.”
Matt Beardsley, operations manager at Relevant Radio and technical producer for “Living Our Faith” and “New Heart, New Spirit,” promoted under the umbrella of “This Week in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee,” said the archbishop’s enthusiasm for the program came through on the air.
“The archbishop had a lot of fun … he looked like he was having a blast,” Beardsley said.
Noting how engaging the archbishop was on the air, he said, “I had to pay attention to my work as I was getting completely sucked in by what Archbishop Listecki had to say.”
Alluding to Archbishop Listecki’s radio co-hosting experience in Chicago, Beardsley has no doubt that the archbishop could do a live, call-in show.
“If Archbishop Listecki wanted to do a call-in show, I’d want it to be a couple of hours,” he said, noting that the archbishop had the talent to hold an audience for that length of time. “It would be meat and potatoes.”
