Ashbrook Illuminated
Getting on point with Tom.
ON POINT IS WBUR’s flagship news and interview show, airing weekdays at 10AM and again at 7PM. It is heard on more than 70 public radio stations nationwide, including stations in Providence, New York, and Washington D.C.. It is also available on XM Satellite Radio. Almost five years since its first broadcast, On Point has a weekly audience of more than 600,000 listeners and has become NPR’s most frequently downloaded programs (for a program not produced by NPR).
Airwaves recently sat down with On Point’s award-winning host Tom Ashbrook—a journalist with vast experience who served for many years as a foreign correspondent and editor for the Boston Globe. He came to WBUR shortly after 9/11, when he was hired to host a special evening program on the nation’s response to the terrorist attacks. The show quickly took root and a few months later was renamed On Point.
Airwaves
What was your background in journalism before radio?
Ashbrook
“I had worked as a print journalist for years, and very happily, from a long-ago start at the South China Morning Post. Years as an editor and many as a reporter and correspondent.”
Airwaves
Your reporting duties took you all over the world. What were your oversea assignments and how have they influenced your outlook on life and the show?
Ashbrook
“I spent 10 wonderful years in Asia, based in India, Hong Kong and Tokyo, traveling and reporting in a huge arc from Hokkaido to the Khyber Pass. I’ve reported from elsewhere—the Balkans, Rwanda, Somalia, Russia, but Asia is my touchstone abroad. It’s like a second home. It’s my reminder that the planet and the future can look very different, depending on where you stand.”
Airwaves
How did you make the switch from print journalism to radio?
Ashbrook
“I guess the best word would be ‘abruptly!’ And the funny thing was, it felt like home, right away.”
Airwaves
You joined WBUR shortly after 9/11…
Ashbrook
“In the late 90’s, I had gone off to start an internet company. When 9/11 came and WBUR called, I just saluted and said yes. We had a national crisis, the microphone was on, and I was in radio—just like that.”
Airwaves
How would you describe your typical work day at WBUR?
Ashbrook
“By 7AM our On Point crew is hard at it. We’re nailing down last details with guests, refining our focus on of the day’s issues, writing and editing scripts, anticipating each hour’s flow.“
“By 9AM, I’m usually pre-recording some elements in the studio, then settling in to do my homestretch prep. At 10AM, the big red light goes on and we’re on the air. That’s the time I love. The two hours fly by. It’s a real workout.”
Airwaves
And after the show is finished?
Ashbrook
“Then we’re straight into meetings, planning the next day’s shows and beyond. By mid-afternoon I’m headed out, with a stack of homework that never ends. But it’s never dull either. Never.”
Airwaves
How do you get your guests to open up and engage?
Ashbrook
“Most people want to share what they know. They believe that their knowledge can help illuminate. If they feel they’ll be fairly heard and intelligently engaged, they’re ready to go—even if they’re being challenged. If they feel an emotional intelligence greeting them as well, they’ll go even deeper and share more fully. That’s the environment we try to create. On good days, it works!”
Airwaves
What would you say is the main objective of On Point?
Ashbrook
“We want to throw a bright light on the big issues of the day, and do it with good humor and high spirits. We want to address what’s in the news and also what’s ‘now’— ideas or trends or pages from history or the arts that light up the world.”
““We’re always prepared to roll up our sleeves and fight on-air, to dust it up to get honest information. And we want to create a forum where listeners of every political stripe can be engaged, hear each other out, and have their say.”
Airwaves
What do you want your listeners to take away from their experience?
Ashbrook
“A buzz! The buzz of honest insight. I want listeners to feel they’ve stepped into the big tent of American life and thought, of world events, and heard a heck of a good no-holds-barred conversation. Probing. Passionate. Urgent, when the issue demands it. And very honest.”
“My dream is that listeners go away enlightened and excited and so do I. And that they’ve heard good faith in the exchange, even when it’s tough. That’s the stuff of democracy, of switched-on humanity.”
Airwaves
Your show is already nationally syndicated, available on satellite radio and via podcast online. What are your goals going forward?
Ashbrook
“We want to keep having fun. We want to challenge the destructive polarity of too much American conversation today, to stand up for truth, to re-knit the fabric of American democracy. And to do it all with—can I use this word?—joy. Are those big enough goals?”
Airwaves
The floor is yours for any last comments…
Ashbrook
“We’re on a mission. And I can’t imagine a better base for it than Boston. Are we passionate about what’s going on in the world? Yes. Yes we are.”
On Point is broadcast weekdays on WBUR 90.9 FM at 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM, and Saturdays at 6:00 AM. The show’s podcasts can be downloaded here. The program is also available on XM satellite radio on channel 133 at 11:00 AM and 9:00 PM EST.