Robert Krulwich was\u00a0attracted to broadcasting ever since he was five years old and went by the pseudonym \u2018Don Roberto\u2019, a well-known radio host. Throughout the years, he continued to play pretend-reporter: he feigned being a chauffeur to get an interview with Simon and Garfunkel, and even sneaked into a hotel to talk to President Kennedy.<\/p>\n
However, he didn\u2019t pursue journalism immediately, but went on to study history at Oberlin College and law. He wanted to become a trial lawyer, just like Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird<\/em>. But two months after receiving his Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1974, he abandoned his pursuit of a law career to cover the Watergate hearings for Pacifica Radio.<\/p>\n \u201dWhen I graduated law school and had this deep, haunting feeling that I\u2019d made a mistake, and I didn\u2019t have the talent or the character to be Gregory Peck, I asked myself: well, what can I do? What am I good at? And I thought, well, I\u2019m good at explaining things. I like learning stuff and meeting people and who gets to do that?\u201d, said Krulwich in a\u00a0famous 2011 Commencement speech<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For 22 years, he was a science, economics, general assignment and foreign correspondent at ABC and CBS News. He won Emmy awards for a cultural history of the Barbie doll <\/a>and for a Frontline investigation on computers<\/a> and privacy, a George Polk for a look at the Savings & Loan bailout online advertising and the 2010 Essay Prize from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.<\/p>\n Since 2014, Krulwich has been the co-host the Peabody Award-winning Radiolab<\/a>, a podcast with over five million monthly downloads. On the show, Robert likes to experiment with basic journalism rules and new ways of telling stories. \u201cYou start with what you know, work backwards and add layers of abstraction\u201d. Few people realize right away that Radiolab is essentially a podcast about science. And that\u2019s because Robert and his co-host, Jad Abumrad, have sidestepped the conventions of traditional broadcast journalism, and managed to create a context in which people can connect with their work, discover stories and take pleasure as the hosts puzzle out the truth.<\/p>\n Krulwich mixes science and mystery into his news reporting, pondering such things as \u201cHow much does a hurricane weigh\u201d<\/a> or \u201cWhere does music come from\u201d<\/a>. He even managed to squeeze in an octopus story on primetime TV about Saddam Hussein. Curiosity is what propels Robert forward and this new form of journalism that he proposes brings along a sense of joyous discovery.<\/p>\n Here are some of the advice Robert Krulwich offered aspiring journalists at University of California, Berkeley in the same 2011 Commencement speech:
\n<\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\n1. Think about not waiting your turn<\/strong>. Think about getting together with friends that you admire, or envy. Think about entrepreneuring. Think about not waiting for a company to call you up. Think about horizontal loyalty. Think about turning to people you already know and making something that makes sense to you together, that is as beautiful or as true as you can make it.<\/p>\n