WBOI welcomes Lauren Caggiano as the new voice of All Things Considered. She joins the station with years of print reporting experience and a commitment to telling meaningful, local stories. In an interview with WBOI's Brianna Datta-Barrow, she reflects on her excitement for the role and shares a few personal insights along the way.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: I'm joined now by Lauren Caggiano, our new All Things Considered host here at WBOI. Lauren, thank you for being here.
Lauren Caggiano: My pleasure.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, for listeners who are just meeting you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Lauren Caggiano: Well, I grew up here in Fort Wayne before going to the University of Dayton, where I studied journalism and French. Came back here to start a career, actually with a media outlet, the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, and then advanced in my career and kind of came to an inflection point where I wanted to determine what was next, and this opportunity found me.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: What about public radio appeals to you?
Lauren Caggiano: Yeah, so I have been a listener for the better part of 20 years, I find it to be a bastion of democracy and really just a public good and an institution that we're all better because of.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, this program takes listeners from hard news to arts and culture, community, and just stories of everyday people. So, what kind of stories are you especially excited to bring to the audience?
Lauren Caggiano: First and foremost, I do have that the journalism background, so that is something I hope to bring to the show, and hopefully the chance to bring some stories to life about our Northeast Indiana community.
I definitely have a heart for the human-interest side of things, the unsung hero segment definitely pulls me in. It's always emotional, sometimes sad, mostly has a happy ending. I think that's a nice break between sometimes these very just solemn news stories that we encounter throughout the day.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: What excites you the most about joining All Things Considered?
Lauren Caggiano: I would say the chance to get to know our listener base. I look forward to being out in the community and kind of putting names with faces, so to speak. Also, just the chance to learn something new, expand my craft. I'm new to audio. I've been a longtime print journalist, so this is-it's definitely, yeah-it's just going to be a new…
Brianna Datta-Barrow: New territory.
Lauren Caggiano: New territory, yeah, yeah.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Yeah, awesome. And what is something that listeners might be surprised to learn about you?
Lauren Caggiano: I speak French.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Can you say something in French to our listeners?
Lauren Caggiano: Oui, comment allez-vous?
[Laughter]
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So, when you're behind the microphone, what do you hope that listeners feel or take away from spending time with you?
Lauren Caggiano: Yeah, I hope to be a calm, cool, and collected voice when you need it the most, and then also bright and upbeat when that's necessary as well. So, reading the room, matching the energy to the story and the broadcast as a whole.
You know, being a longtime listener and donor and volunteer, I've worked several fund drives. I know how hard everyone works here during those two times of the year, and obviously outside of that too. So, I've had really an inside view of station operations, and now I definitely have a very micro view.
So, I'm excited to kind of thread those two areas of my background as I assume this role.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: We're so happy to have you here and have you joining us here on the airwaves, Lauren. Thanks for speaking with us.
Lauren Caggiano: Thank you so much.
