A morning filled with humor, laced with interviews with local residents, history and quizzes, made up Michael Feldman”s Saturday appearance in Columbus with his “Whad”Ya Know?” radio show.
Feldman, the host on the show, which is heard weekly on more than 350 Public Radio International stations, broadcast the show live from Rent Auditorium on the Mississippi University for Women campus. About 800 people attended the broadcast, said James Tsismanakis, CEO/Executive Director of the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The show is approaching its 25th anniversary and is normally broadcast in Madison, Wis. Feldman does eight shows from the road annually.
During opening of Saturday”s show, Feldman played Johnny Cash”s “Starkville City Jail,” and in his monologue made suggestions for a new name for MUW.
“It could be the University of Welty, or University for Mostly Women,” he said.
He interviewed The Commercial Dispatch Editor and Publisher Birney Imes as they talked about Imes” role with the paper and elements that make Columbus a good place to live. Imes described Columbus as a city with many characters.
“They are one of our natural resources,” he said.
During the course of the two-hour broadcast, Feldman interviewed Columbus native Rufus Ward, a former West Point city prosecutor, who is an avid local historian. Ward talked about collecting dinosaur and shark fossils on the banks of Tibbee Creek and discussed the early history of the area.
Ward said he is working to develop a Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Museum.
“I have an interest in local history and I am a consultant on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Museum,” he said. “This is something I hope to get started.”
Ward said he enjoyed the opportunity to be on stage with Feldman. Ward contributed one of the items that adorned the stage, a red kayak.
“It was a lot easier than I expected it to be,” he said.
Feldman also interviewed Helen Karriem, owner of Helen”s Kitchen in Columbus. She was promoting a new cookbook filled with her recipes, as well as some from her mother, Sally Mae Jones, and her sister, Anna Petty.
“Both have been an inspiration in my life,” she said.
Along with Ward”s kayak, other items making up stage decorations included life-size photos of famed playwright Tennessee Williams, who was born in Columbus, Mother Goose, a.k.a. Edwina Williams and Sam Hairston, who played baseball in the Negro League and Major League Baseball with the Chicago White Sox.
As part of his regular routine, Feldman went into the audience to speak with them and answer questions. Among those he talked to included Debra Atkinson of Columbus and Heather McGinn of Starkville.
McGinn said she listens to the show often and enjoyed the chance to see Feldman up close and personal.
“I was very excited. I enjoyed seeing it live and seeing how the show is done,” she said.
Atkinson said she had a lot of fun interacting with Feldman.
“I was shocked when he pulled my card with my name,” she said.
Among those who took part in the Whad”Ya Know? quiz was Jonelle Currie of Tupelo. She is a nursing student at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
“My dad told me a lot about the show and that many of the questions he asked are trick questions,” she said.
Currie said being on the show gave her a better perspective of how radio is done.
“It puts it in a unique perspective,” she said.
Ira Rubin of Jackson enjoyed the show as well.
“It was very entertaining and exciting,” he said.
Along with a jazz band that plays with Feldman on his show, the band Hill Country Revue from Memphis, Tenn., also performed.
Following the show, a meet and greet session with Feldman was held at MUW Arts and Design gallery.
Tsismanakis described the event as “phenomenal.”
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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