Today's episode reunites three members of the WJPZ Class of 2002, as Jag is joined by Jana Fiorello and Beth (Berlin) Cohen. You'll hear themes of lifelong friendship here that are likely reflected in your own class.
Beth originally showed up at Syracuse to audition for their musical theater program, but on her high school tour, she found herself talking to then-dean David Rubin at Newhouse about their Television-Radio-Film program. Jana, on the other hand, always loved radio and knew that's what she wanted to pursue at SU.
Beth joined the station earlier than Jana, but both were part of the freshman class that Harry Wareing created to save the station from the tumult of two format changes and receievership - you can learn more about that in his episode with Dena (Giacobbe) Laupheimer here.
Soon, Beth joined Matt DelSignore and others as programming assistants. Jana joined later and was put in charge of production, where she found herself working frequently with Beth, when she became development director. They were at the station at a huge time for music, 1999, as you'll hear about.
Junior year was the "house on Ostrom" year when Jana became VP of Programming, and her unofficial title, "party planner," began with a massive party to clean up this place the University had dumped on us.
Senior year, the Class of 2002 began handing the reigns to the next generation of station leadership, but maintained a strong presence, including a donation drive after the 9/11 attacks - and a story about white butcher paper.
Following graduation and some time on the record label side, Beth really found a passion working with kids and pursued a career in speech pathology, where she's been working with kids in her home state of Maryland for 17 years.
Jana stayed in the WJPZ family immediately after school, going to work for Chris Bungo and Rocco Macri at Promosuite, which further stoked her passion for radio. You'll hear about her career in the New York market, and how it eventually led to her current role as a digital content maven for political campaigns.
Throughout today's episode, you'll hear about life lessons learned at the station that are still applied every day, and just how special the relationships formed are, across any number of miles.
You'll also hear a hilarious small world radio story, a story about a brick of cheese, and a rare moment when Hall of Famer and classmate Matt DelSignore was angry.
Mentioned in this episode:
Matt DelSignore's Summer 1999 Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6HbF5OilemvmkfxePsJXbA?si=-uqR_A41ShCyM5RqAAMhfw
Jana's Batcave Bangers Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4kpRYBnhwxiRrwYwKTUeNw?si=yZZAoRPfRC-Y3Cq0zuhdQA
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag: jag@jagindetroit.com.
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Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/
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