Even off the air, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, well-known as the hosts of “Radiolab,” have a chemistry that just works. They giggle and bicker. They finish each other’s sentences and thoughts. They start stories and get lost in tangents. They’re an old married couple, without being old or married.
They started as something of an echo, to hear Krulwich tell it. With a 25-year gap, Krulwich and Abumrad attended the same college, accepted their first jobs at the same radio station, then moved on to NPR and New York.
After a chance meeting a dozen years ago, the two started getting together for breakfast. During one of those breakfasts, Abumrad asked Krulwich for advice on his late-night radio program, “Radiolab.” It was a very different “Radiolab” than listeners know today, they both like to point out. But Krulwich, who was working in television news at the time, said when he heard what Abumrad was working on, he decided to stop trying to be a mentor and to “play together.”
And play they have. You have to hear Abumrad and Krulwich talk about their process in developing stories, the intimacy of podcasts, their relationship and, well, snail sex.
“Radiolab” airs from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturdays on St. Louis Public Radio.
Listen to the “Radiolab”-ified introduction of Abumrad and Krulwich created by St. Louis Public Radio production assistant Aaron Doerr:
“St. Louis on the Air” discusses issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards and Alex Heuer and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh. Follow us on Twitter: @STLonAir.