People

David Candow, ‘host whisperer’ and public radio trainer, dies at 74

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David Candow, who was nicknamed “The Host Whisperer” for his work training hundreds of public radio hosts and journalists, died Thursday at his home in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He was 74. After a long career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Candow started a consulting business in 1995 and became known throughout U.S. public radio for his extensive work training journalists in writing, editing, interviewing and delivery. In 2008, the Washington Post described him as “a kind of Henry Higgins to broadcasting’s Eliza Doolittles.”
His death prompted an outpouring of remembrances throughout public radio from the hosts and reporters he helped over the years.

Programs/Content

NPR’s Scott Simon to host second pilot of Wonderful Town variety show

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NPR is mounting a second pilot performance of Scott Simon’s Wonderful Town, a variety show featuring the Weekend Edition Saturday host. The live taping will take place Jan. 22 at the Bell House in Brooklyn, N.Y., where NPR’s trivia show Ask Me Another also tapes. It will feature appearances from comedians and musicians including Eugene Mirman, Nellie McKay and Daily Show contributor Aasif Mandvi. This is the second Wonderful Town pilot to be taped; the first was in February 2013.

Quick Takes

NPR’s Scott Simon to record pilot for mysterious new variety show

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Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, is holding a free taping of a pilot episode for an experimental radio variety show, Scott Simon’s Wonderful Town. The taping will take place Feb. 26 at the bar Bell House in Brooklyn, N.Y., where NPR’s pub trivia program Ask Me Another is recorded, and will feature comedian Jim Gaffigan, musician Julian Velard and other guests. Tickets are already sold out. NPR spokesperson Emerson Brown told Current the taping is “an experiment,” and that while Simon and the network’s programming staff are likely to tape one more event based on feedback from the Feb.