Radiolab: "Happy Birthday Bobby K"

Date: August 7, 2014
Hosts: Jad Abumrad, Ellen Horn, Robert Krulwich
Podcast by: WNYC Studios

Episode Overview

This special Radiolab "Shorts" episode is devoted to celebrating the unique, influential, and storied career of Robert Krulwich on his birthday. Although Robert notoriously hates celebrating his birthday, the team surprises him in the studio with cake, staff, and—more importantly—a look back at the breadth of his creative life in radio and beyond. The show features samples of his earlier work, showcasing his theatrical, boundary-pushing audio style, and his relentless curiosity. Along the way, the hosts reflect on Robert’s impact on Radiolab and the world of broadcast journalism, wrapping up with one of his signature curious digressions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Birthday Surprise and Robert’s Aversion to Celebrations

• The episode begins with the Radiolab team ambushing Robert in the studio, much to his discomfort:

  "I have spent such a long time trying to hide my birthday from everybody."
  — Robert Krulwich (02:19)

• Ellen Horn reflects on over a decade of working alongside Robert, justifying this moment of focused celebration.

2. Unpacking Robert’s Early Radio Sensibilities

• Ellen Horn and Jad Abumrad dive into the archives to illustrate how Robert’s creative fingerprints shaped Radiolab’s sound and spirit.
• Jad sets the stage:

  "I'm not sure a lot of people who listen to Radiolab really get how much Robert's sensibility drives this show. Like his combination of theater and play and his desire to sound different than other stuff on the radio and to ignore the rules but always, always in service of a genuine attempt to understand or explain something."
  — Jad Abumrad (02:50)

A. Robert’s "Nose Phase"

• They play vintage clips from the late 1970s—Robert’s “nasal” reporting style and experimentation.

  "I thought nasal was sort of powerful. I think if you have a nose, you should use it."
  — Robert Krulwich (03:56)

B. Reporting on the Advent of ATMs

• Early piece (1979) addresses the cultural anxieties around ATMs supplanting human tellers, using music and even proto-musical storytelling.
• Robert nearly sings an explanation for electronic fund transfers, illustrating his penchant for breaking format (04:27–05:04).

C. Interest Rates… As an Opera!

• A tongue-in-cheek report satirizes economic news as a grand opera ("Ratto Interesso") featuring made-up composer Alfredo Tucci and dramatizations of real economic events.

  "The ins and outs of their struggles are worse worthy of an opera. In fact, they are an opera."
  — Robert Krulwich & Jad Abumrad (05:24–05:30)

• Adds Paul Volcker, then-Fed Chairman, into the opera via press conference tape (07:34).

• Jad marvels at this wild creative leap:

  "Beautifully performed...particularly by Mr. Khan, who's getting a standing ovation."
  — Jad Abumrad (08:44)

• Ellen:

  "I can't believe that that was on National Public Radio."
  (08:53)

3. Comedy and Satire: “Backfire” (1992)

• Robert’s satirical NPR year-in-review show with Buck Henry, Jane Curtin, and Tony Hendra—a fixture reduced over time to New Year’s Eve slots.
• Discussion includes a comedic (and surreal) exploration of President George H.W. Bush vomiting on the Japanese Prime Minister (09:54–11:04).
• Rolling with the jokes, Robert describes his unlikely subsequent invitation to perform at the White House, despite the show’s waning popularity:

  "The people who think it's funny is a person and is the President of the United States."
  — Robert Krulwich (12:53)

• Reflects on life’s strange blessings and absurd moments of recognition (12:57–13:43).

4. Rule-Breaking Radio: The Krasolovsky Saga

• A formative piece from 1981 tells the convoluted, competitive, and comically escalating story of the Krasolovsky moving company—a tale of business rivalry waged through phone book listings.

• The playfulness and inventiveness of the presentation left a deep impact on Ellen as a young producer:

  "You hear this thing come out of the radio and you're like, I didn’t know you could do that. I just didn’t know… that was allowed."
  — Ellen Horn (13:43)

• Highlights from the story:

  • The family’s rivalry escalates into alphabetic subterfuge and name changes in phone book listings (14:24–20:06).
  • Robert to a family member:

    "Did you do it for fun or...?
    This was not for fun. This was very serious. There was no reason… We felt that another member of the family… should not capitalize on the name…"
    — Robert Krulwich & interviewee (17:59–18:24)

5. Classic Krulwich: The Alligator and the B Flat — A Digression

• As a birthday treat, the hosts let Robert run with one of his inevitable, wonderful tangents: the wild saga behind his first TV piece for ABC News (22:48–32:42).

  • It begins with a chance encounter with a golf ball retriever, detours into alligator wrangling, and then to a Michigan suburb where dozens of alligators are kept hidden in a basement.

  • The story becomes increasingly absurd: a sewing circle incident causes alligators to bellow, possibly due to a B flat from a sewing machine. Robert orchestrates a high school marching band, a skeptical producer, and even French tourists to test the hypothesis—ultimately capturing a symphonic alligator bellow with a TV crew and receiving stellar ratings for the segment.

  • Notable Moment:

    "There’s a kind of quiet, and then there’s a kind of a bubbling noise. The first thing that an alligator does when it’s about to bellow is it shakes its rib cage. So all of a sudden, it’s like the whole pool of water turned to ginger ale… and all the males… all at once, make that [alligator bellow]."
    — Robert Krulwich (30:25–31:25)

  • Robert shares the highs (huge TV audience) and lows (next week’s segment flops)—all with characteristic humility and humor.

Noteworthy Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I have spent such a long time trying to hide my birthday from everybody."
  — Robert Krulwich (02:19)

• "If you have a nose, you should use it."
  — Robert Krulwich, on his nasal early voice (03:56)

• "There aren’t very many operas that deal exclusively with the subject of interest rates, but this one, I think, is the most magnificent of all."
  — Jad Abumrad (05:47)

• "There are certain moments where you feel strangely blessed, you know, like either you were a really great giraffe in some previous life and this is your reward, or every so often, God just leans down through the crowds and kisses you..."
  — Robert Krulwich (13:18)

• "I didn’t know you could do that. I just didn’t know… that was allowed."
  — Ellen Horn, on hearing Robert’s rule-breaking early pieces (13:43)

• "I’m adding like 3 million people every minute… It was unbelievable…I was king."
  — Robert Krulwich, about his alligator-B-flat TV segment’s ratings (31:41–32:42)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|--------------------| | 02:00 | Staff surprise Robert for his birthday | | 03:28 | Early "nasal" reporting and 1979 ATM story | | 05:07 | Opera about interest rates ("Ratto Interesso") | | 09:18 | Clip from 1992 comedy panel "Backfire" starts | | 14:24 | The "Krasolovsky" moving company phone book rivalry | | 22:48 | Robert's Alligator/B-flat digression | | 30:25 | The alligators actually bellow at the B flat | | 32:42 | Episode wraps with birthday wishes |

Episode Tone & Style

The episode is playful, reverent, and filled with affection for Robert’s quirky, brilliant career and irrepressible spirit. The hosts celebrate his curiosity, humor, disregard for boundaries, and gift for finding fascinating stories in the everyday and bizarre alike. The collage of historic clips, commentary, and Robert’s own stories captures the inimitable style that defines both him and the Radiolab ethos.

In short:
"Happy Birthday Bobby K" is both a heartfelt tribute and a tour-de-force sampler highlighting Robert Krulwich’s creative legacy—the perfect listen for fans of radio craft, media history, and stories where curiosity leads, gloriously, off the rails.