My submission for Public Radio Quest

Along with 70,000 other hopefuls, I just uploaded my entry to be Public Radio's next star. It was a fun process to say the very least. Here is what I've suggested and why I think my program would get people listening:
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My name is Jessica Alpert.

Born in Texas, I was raised by a mother from El Salvador and a father from New Jersey. Interesting to say the very least. As soon as I turned eighteen, I was ready to explore the country and hit New York City first. After college I moved to Washington, DC for my first job and now I am in Indiana, the crossroads of America, recording from a place I never expected to end up. One year into getting my PhD in History, public radio remains my constant, whether I am in Brooklyn or Bloomington.

I’ve lived abroad and spent last year as a Fulbright collecting oral histories from the Jewish community of El Salvador. I am an independent storylistener, it’s what I do best: writing down what people tell me and spreading the word.

While Americans may think we understand each other, my concept for public radio seeks to bridge the gaps that keep us disconnected. I’ve always believed in an inter-state exchange student program. A kid from Westchester County should be sent to Biloxi, Mississippi to see and taste what life is like in the south….while a teenager from Abilene, Texas should spend a week in Eugene, Oregon. What will it take for Americans to start learning about each other? I believe we have a long way to go and my own life lived across the country has given me enough convincing evidence.

While this exchange student program may not be a plausible reality, I want my radio show to make it as virtual as possible. I want to talk to young people across the country and learn about their stories, the lives they’ve lived. What is their vision of America? Rather than tell listeners what young people are thinking, I want this program to give individuals their own voice and most importantly, I want it to be real, challenging, honest.

I hope you might take this ride with me. Let’s do it right, let’s do it raw, and let’s let America’s youth tell us how it is: starting with Alabama and going all the way to Wyoming.