Update II (12:57 p.m. October 4): The name of Jabulani Leffall's KCUR show has been announced: Central Standard. The website says Central Standard will focus on "current events in the Metro area, the region, the nation and
the world, combining discussions about economics, culture, the
environment, personal and business finance, entertainment and unique,
eclectic ideas."
Update (9:32 a.m. October 4): 89.3 FM KCUR's Jabulani Leffall will announce the new name of his show on the air at 10 a.m. today.
Original post (8 a.m. October 4): You don't replace Walt Bodine. Jabulani Leffall knows this.
"I have a lot in common with everybody who isn't Walt Bodine, and that's the fact that they aren't Walt Bodine either," 34-year-old Leffall jokes.
And yet, people will probably insist on calling Leffall the "new" Walt
Bodine for a while longer. Leffall has taken over Bodine's 10-to-11 a.m.
time slot on the local NPR affiliate, KCUR,
Mondays through Thursdays. (Bodine continues to host his show on
Fridays.)
"He is irreplaceable, he is a staple of the community,
and he is literally one of the pioneers of talk radio, period," Leffall
continues. "I'm not really trying to fill those shoes. What I can learn
from him integrity and longevity wise, those are things I would draw
from him."
Haters were talking mad shit on blogs when Leffall's hiring was first announced, but he brushed his shoulders off once he met Bodine. "He shook my hand tight and told me I was going to do fine," Leffall says.
The dude's resume is formidable. Originally from Los Angeles, Leffall received a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. He damn near predicted the sub-prime lending crisis after studying the effects of predatory lending in poor communities as a George Washington Williams Fellow for the Independent Press
Association from 2002 to 2004. He's contributed to Dow Jones' Marketwatch, the Baltimore Sun,
Investor's Business Daily, Variety, Black Enterprise, and the Los Angeles
Business Journal. Most recently, he analyzed financial data for FactSet Research Systems in
Los Angeles. He's married to a Jackson County prosecutor in the child support division.
His bio also contains a Geto Boys reference, lest anyone think he's an egghead.
Leffall has tapped Miles Bonny, the Pitch's winner for Best Hip-Hop DJ this year, to create the theme music for his show. But what is his show?
"It's a mixed bag," Leffall says. "This American Life
meets Larry King meets Tavis
Smiley...one day it might be about cap-and-trade, and the next
day we could be talking to someone who knew Dr. Martin Luther King.
The next day we could be talking to Yo-Yo Ma and Jay-Z."
Since it's not the Walt Bodine Show, Leffall started a search for a new show title. His name-that-show blog collected more than 1,000 hits and 200-some suggestions in two weeks. Next week, Leffall says, he expects to announce the show's name and its new producer.
Showing 1-5 of 5
Well, at least I know his name now; I've yet been able to understand it on-air. He clearly has a voice & elocution made for print journalism.
I have listened to several Central Standard shows and have not been enthused by any of them. The show today, 20th October, was about bringing the NBA to Kansas City, which in my opinion would be a disaster financially for the City. The time for small market cities having successful NBA franchises is over, so why waste the effort and surely endanger the City's finances with success. So it became for me a who cares show. There was no effort to make the case for not haveing an NBA franchise in Kansas City. I miss the format that the staff of KCUR continued when Walt was gone. To be frank I did not miss Walt as his participation was minimal, but that format of restaurant reviews, movie reviews, etc was great. The special topics shows that the staff presented was also great. I think that in the future I will be listening into KCUR less and less until 11:00 am when Steve Kraske comes on.
I have listened to several Central Standard shows and have not been enthused by any of them. The show today, 20th October, was about bringing the NBA to Kansas City, which in my opinion would be a disaster financially for the City. The time for small market cities having successful NBA franchises is over, so why waste the effort and surely endanger the City's finances with success. So it became for me a who cares show. There was no effort to make the case for not haveing an NBA franchise in Kansas City. I miss the format that the staff of KCUR continued when Walt was gone. To be frank I did not miss Walt as his participation was minimal, but that format of restaurant reviews, movie reviews, etc was great. The special topics shows that the staff presented was also great. I think that in the future I will be listening into KCUR less and less until 11:00 am when Steve Kraske comes on.
KCUR had the perfect new host for Walt's show already on staff in Gina Kaufman... I wish Jabulani well but it's hard to get past the fact that excellent talent was already in house.
I was skeptical when I heard about him, but vowed to give Jabulani a chance. Heard him for the first time last week and was impressed.
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