TRANSCRIPTION:
Molly Motherwell: And hello! This is General Manager Molly Motherwell, sitting down for the last time with David Fair and Michael Jewett on the cusp of your retirements in the next few days. I thought it would be a great opportunity for the three of us to sit down, having been colleagues now for decades, and just look back over the years of your being here, us being a team and just working with WEMU in general. So, welcome!
David Fair: Thank you for the idea! I appreciate it!
Michael Jewett: Hello! This is...yeah, it's surreal! It's surreal!
Molly Motherwell: It is!
Michael Jewett: It feels surreal to me. Maybe not to everybody else, but it feels surreal to me.
Molly Motherwell: It's going to be very different here starting next week. And for our listeners, especially for me, the three of us have been together for 32 years since David started in 1994. I was here in '91. And of course, you've been here since '83. And I've been thinking about how are we going to have this conversation? And I didn't write down any questions, but I have a lot of things—
David Fair: I think we're curious as to how we're going to do this too.
Michael Jewett: And I want to thank you both for being such magnificent friends and colleagues. And on that note, Molly, did you realistically expect that this would be like serious and thoughtful with David and I?
Molly Motherwell: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
Michael Jewett: All right. So, if it does descend into total chaos...
Molly Motherwell: Well, I'll tell you the first thing, when I was sorting through my memories, one of the first memories that popped up was the time we set our Art Fair site on fire when the fire marshal.
Michael Jewett: I had nothing to do with it. I wasn't even there at that time.
Molly Motherwell: Thinking of--
David Fair: I was an observer thinking, "Should I be reporting you?"
Molly Motherwell: Well, I think we had you involved in turning him around, so he didn't see it. But just so many things we have experienced together. And whereas this is not a serious conversation, I think some really serious events shaped our time here at WEMU, all of us as broadcasters. Of course, you both started in the era of cutting tape with razor blades, reel-to-reel tape. And now, we we have digital editing things have really changed over the last 32 years and 43 years. But thinking about what is shaped us as an organization, the three of us kind of took the reins upon Linda's retirement in 2017. But even prior to that, the things I think that really made a difference here at WEMU--three big ones. So, we were all involved with 9/11, the COVID pandemic and the recent rescission of federal funds and how that has affected us as broadcasters and coworkers, but also how it's affected the station. So, remember, David, I know that 9/11 has just been really vivid for you ever since it happened and how it shaped your approach to everything after that.
David Fair: You know, I think we took it for granted as a society and as an American people that it wasn't going to happen here. America had not been attacked since Pearl Harbor, certainly on our own land, and it was curious to me how we were going to respond. I remember the day-of vividly. Like everybody else, we were watching video, but, at the same time, trying to pass along information and what the impacts may be locally, having to reach out and talk with people. And everybody in stunned silence or complete shock, unable to process, "What are we experiencing? Is this really happening?" And as we move through the days, the weeks and the months beyond, it only sat heavier as to what had been experienced and what was going to be necessary to move forward and to do so in a way that perhaps we don't have to experience this again. And it was important conversations. But I have to tell you. It's sometimes difficult to do radio and to gather that information and present that information when you too are personally in that state of shock.
Molly Motherwell: Right. And we were in wall-to-wall coverage for a long time. But then, we went back to the regular programming. And as a music programmer, how do you make that change? Because nothing is the same after something like that.
Michael Jewett: Yeah. And I remember, interesting that this comes up, there's a famous recording just in the past couple of months, the jazz world mourning the loss of Sonny Rollins. There's a famous Sonny Rollins concert recording that was made, I think, less than a week or so after 9/11. He's a New Yorker. He actually had to evacuate his apartment. This is his backyard, so to speak. I don't know if you have backyards in New York, but he's down the street from the World Trade Center. And there was this notion, "Well, we're not going to do the concert." And then his wife, Lucille, said, "No, I think people may need this music to heal and whatnot." The record came out many years after 9/11. They decided to release it as a concert recording, so we know the whole story. But I think it was kind of like that for music programmers, for us here at WEMU, of just, "What do we play?" Well, you play what you always play in a way. This is your life. This is how you reconnect with things. And I don't have that clear a memory of it. Actually, we'd have to go back and dig up exactly what we played. You know, it's about a week after 9/11, the actual event, that we played music. And I want to say that we played kind of like the things that we always knew and loved.
Molly Motherwell: The comfort music.
Michael Jewett: Yeah, right. Yeah, and it was just like one of those things that was just reconnecting with something that's eternal. And I guess, Molly, it's an interesting springboard for discussion, these three things, pillars that we're calling, they kind of like defined us and whatnot. But, you know, when I think about the many years here at WEMU, I think it's like two things. I think there's kind of like what journalism is always about and what radio journalism, what NPR, public radio is all about. And also this mission. And I think the things that kind of I'll walk away with or whatever, is that WEMU had a mission.
Molly Motherwell: Right.
Michael Jewett: WEMU is about something. And these things that we live through and have to confront and whatnot, we just stay true to the mission.
Molly Motherwell: Yeah.
Michael Jewett: And I think working at WEMU is a very meaningful, purposeful thing for me. And I think that's what can always sustain me or whatnot through all of this stuff, all of history and whatnot. You know, music is eternal and the importance of being informed, having fact-based journalism, this is important stuff.
Molly Motherwell: And something like this shapes you going forward. You never look at anything the same way. Right, David?
David Fair: That is exactly right. And by the way, this is 89.1 WEMU. We are your community NPR station. Michael Jewett. Molly Motherwell. David Fair. We're all here kind of reflecting. And there is a sense of comfort that we can often take for granted. And I think that happens both inside the walls of WEMU and out in the community.
Molly Motherwell: Because people are relying on us to make things normal again.
David Fair: That brings us to the pandemic.
Michael Jewett: You said the normal. One of my favorite...well, I don't know if it's a favorite memory.
David Fair: And by the way, nobody in this building is normal.
Michael Jewett: Yeah, right. But I had a listener friend, tell me, "I'm so thankful, grateful for WEMU. You guys are my normal. You guys are my normal." This is in the midst of shutdowns and whatnot. And just like this notion. And again, what are we playing? We're playing the music that we always play.
Molly Motherwell: We got so much of that when we had to change everything, and we were four days away from a fundraiser when everything shut down, and we had to change that. We have changed the way we do fundraisers where we don't have the long, drawn-out ones anymore. But mostly, we were juggling, "Okay, we can't interrupt programming!" And it's where I gained this incredible awe and admiration. I've always admired the talent of our music programmers. Watching you program during a pandemic was just unbelievable to watch!
David Fair: And I will second that because as somebody who was deeply involved in all of the news and information and the health protocols that had to be passed along on a 24-hour basis, it was overwhelming.
Molly Motherwell: Right.
David Fair: And for us as broadcasters to be able to then hear the music during the day was not only something that took a little off the weight off our shoulders, but it was absolutely cathartic. And that's when I stopped taking for granted how important it is what you and the rest of the music staff do at WEMU because it's more than a norm. It is something that provides a sense of comfort, a sense of belonging, and a sense of hope for the future.
Molly Motherwell: Right. And we just started this conversation. We're almost getting ready to wrap up. We all know what the recession did to us as an industry and how it brought us together. And I would just like to say, as General Manager, but more important as a friend, having you to by my side through these three critical events in our history made everything easier. I really felt that we relied on each other, we depended on each other, we stood together, and we made a difference. And it's been my honor and privilege to be your General Manager. It's been a greater honor and a privilege to your friend. And I think we do our best in times of trouble when we lost our beloved Lisa Barry. It's going to be very different for me. I'll get through it, but I hope no one's expecting too much of me in the next few weeks because this is going to take some getting used to.
David Fair: It has been a journey that we've taken together, and I've appreciated all of the various walks we've taken through the woods and back out again. But I also want to take just a moment to say thanks to the people that matter most, and that is the listeners and donors to WEMU.
Molly Motherwell: Of course!
David Fair: We exist because of you, and it is the relationship with you that has been the inspiration to drive each of us forward. And I, for one, am most grateful that I've this 30-year relationship, and I will carry it with me for my days ahead.
Michael Jewett: Yeah! It's a privilege to do this--to do radio. It's something you get to do. We have been lucky enough to do this for a long time, so long, in fact, we can't quite remember exactly how long.
Molly Motherwell: Dig through those archives!
Michael Jewett: And it's been such a great ride! So, thank you both! And thanks, everyone!
David Fair: This is your community NPR station. It is 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti. And for a final time, Michael Jewett, say goodbye.
Michael Jewett: Goodbye.
David Fair: And I, too, thank you and say goodbye. And, Molly, we'll be with you in spirit and right behind you in reality!
Molly Motherwell: I'm glad to know that!
David Fair: This is WEMU.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
