Open Ears, Open Heart

Lauren Talley - Assistant Producer, Interfaith Voices

I can trace my interests in journalism to early high school, maybe even a little earlier. I vaguely considered being a TV news anchor in seventh grade when I visited the CNN building in Atlanta. In high school I worked on the school newspaper, and in college I started out doing the same—at least until sophomore year.

It was then that a professor first introduced me to National Public Radio or at least, it was the first time I liked it. Before that, NPR had always been the boring talk radio I asked my parents to change so I could hear pop music instead. That summer I interned at Michigan Radio—the state’s NPR affiliate located in my hometown, Ann Arbor. The next summer it was Chicago Public Radio and then to the local radio station in East Lansing, home of Michigan State University, my alma mater.

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During my first internship it was clear I wanted to pursue public radio so you can imagine my delight at the Loretto placement at Interfaith Voices. When I read the description, it was exactly what I wanted to do and in a topic I was most interested in exploring.

I was raised in a liberal Lutheran family in an even more liberal Lutheran church. We have two women pastors (hoorah for women’s ordination!). In college, my church attendance waned, but my religious curiosity did not. Interfaith Voices merges two of my interests—public radio and religious studies. So it’s only natural that I’d end up here!

I’m so excited to be here, to learn more about the practical side of radio production, and to grow spiritually. I truly believe Interfaith Voices provides an essential service in a time when religious understanding is needed more than ever before.  I’m so grateful to be a part of a community that’s making a difference.