NPR National Correspondent Jennifer Ludden, Class of 1988

NPR National Correspondent Jennifer Ludden, Class of 1988

Author: WJPZ May 29, 2023 Duration: 27:49
WJPZ at 50
HistoryEducation

Jennifer Ludden, Class of 1988, has had an incredible radio reporting career.  And it all started at WJPZ.  This Tennessee native was recruited by "dorm mom" Sue Mandel (now Weingarten) to come "get a tour" of the radio station.  Next thing you know, Jennifer was doing news, as well as music and morning show shifts.  

 

After a summer working back home, she returned as a sophomore and quickly released that southern accent needed to go, particularly if she wanted to fulfill her dream of working in New York City, which she did after graduation.

 

Despite a myriad of other interests, Jennifer had a roommate with NPR experience.  Thanks to Rob Weingarten, Jennifer was able to make a demo tape and land a gig at Maine Public Radio.   Soon she learned French and headed to Montreal, where she freelanced.  And her bilingual abilities took  her West Africa in the mid-nineties.   She tell us some pretty incredible war-zone stories from there, as well as her time in Jerusalem covering the Middle East.   (Spoiler: don't wear a bullet proof vest while pregnant.)

 

After starting a family, Jennifer and her husband returned to the US, where she has covered many important national stories from NPR.   She does an excellent job giving us quick explainers on complex topics, including immigration, the decline of marriage, housing, climate change, and economic inequality.

 

We close with Jennifer's advice to current students and young reporters: no matter what subject you're covering, it's all about the people.   And that's true regardless of the medium you're working in.

 

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.

 

Sign up for email alerts whenever we release a new episode here: jagindetroit.com/WJPZat50

 

Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag:  jag@jagindetroit.com.

 

Want to stay in the loop with WJPZ Alumni events?  Subscribe to our newsletter on the right hand side of the page at http://wjpzalumni.org/

Want to be on the show? Email JAG at jag@jagpodcastproductions.com

Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/


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For fifty years, the student-run airwaves of Syracuse University's WJPZ at 50 have been more than a radio station; they've been a launchpad. This oral history project captures that legacy not through dry facts, but through the voices that built it. Each episode is a conversation with a different alumnus, from the pioneers of the 1970s to recent graduates, tracing how their hands-on experience in what's called the "world's greatest media classroom" shaped careers in broadcasting and far beyond. You'll hear personal stories of late-night broadcasts, technical mishaps turned into triumphs, and the forging of lifelong bonds that created a unique professional family spanning generations. This podcast digs into the real, often messy, work of learning by doing, revealing how a campus station became an enduring institution. Tune in for a collection of fifty interviews that together form a living archive, celebrating the people, not just the programming, behind five decades of student-led radio.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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WJPZ at 50
Podcast Episodes
Matthew Reschke, aka R Source [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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We're talking today with Matthew Reschke, also known as R Source, from the class of 2012. Matt's connection to WJPZ started in his childhood, growing up near Syracuse and engaging with the station's DJs through AOL - bef…
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Every year, the WJPZ Alumni Association, via the Berrell Award, sends two students to an industry event. In 2023, GM Grace Denton and former sports director Joe Puccio went to Vegas for the National Association of Broadc…
Kelly (Foster) and Adam Shapiro, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:39
If you don't know Adam and Kelly (Foster) Shapiro's backstory, you might assume it's yet another romance started in the halls of WJPZ. Their story, as you'll hear here, is a much different road than than other Z89 couple…
Meteorologist Dave Roberts, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:48
While many of us flipped burgers or bagged groceries in high school, Dave Roberts was reading the news on an AM station and (literally) herding cats as a 15 year old. When he toured Syracuse and saw the WJPZ prize van, a…
Seattle Mariners VP of Marketing Kevin Martinez, Class of 1988 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:32
Kevin Tippy Martinez, '88, is the Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications for the Seattle Mariners. It's no surprise that this New Jersey native, with passions for baseball and broadcasting, found himself trans…
Mike Roberts, longtime V103 Morning Man and PD, Class of 1979 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:55
Mike Roberts, Class of 1979, is one of the people who helped kept WJPZ alive in the early days. With the station's founders having graduated, Mike empowerd a team to run radio station, passing its educational lessons for…
GM Marc Bokoff, '87, on the Sit-In at WJPZ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:45
Today we interview Marc Bokoff, from the class of 1987. A management major, Marc came to the station as business manager under then-GM Larry Barron, before becoming general manager himself. He took over the station in th…
Scott Greene, Class of '93: Newspaper to Radio and Back! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:32
Scott Greene, '93, grew up just outside Boston wanting to be a newspaper reporter. He did it in high school and came to Syracuse wanting to pursue that career. But WJPZ quickly drew him in, and he says the only columns h…
Marty D, Class of 2001, Draws Out The Laughs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:07
Links!All of Marty's current work, including podcasts: https://weeklyhumorist.com/Marty's archive of Z Morning Zoo bits, including the full Rick Wright tour of the Ostrom House: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ascjv18c5…

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