If you've turned on the evening news recently, you may have noticed a new voice behind the mic. That's Henry Epp, a life-long public radio listener and seasoned reporter who joined VPR as local host of All Things Considered in May. Get to know Henry in our latest Staff Spotlight!
The Essentials:
- My name is: Henry Epp
- Public radio employee since: 2012
- Public radio listener since: My whole life. I have very vivid memories of All Things Considered being on in the kitchen after school while my parents made dinner.
- My job is: Reporter and local host of All Things Considered
Tell me more:
Who taught you the most about radio?
My mom, actually, because she worked in public radio when I was growing up. She had a show about parenting on community radio in Minneapolis. She then went on to work at Minnesota Public Radio and distributed her show, MOMbo, to other stations in the early days of Public Radio Exchange (PRX).
Also, I got job at New England Public Radio (NEPR) right out of college. The news director, Sam Hudzik, and everyone in that newsroom were huge mentors for me.
Has anything about Vermont surprised you?
John Dillon (VPR's news director) took me to the Statehouse while the legislature was in session. We watched a press conference with the Governor Scott. I was pleasantly surprised that he took the time to answer any questions that the press had. As much as they wanted to push him, he stuck around for all of it. No one was cut off.
Favorite public radio experiences?
I reported a story a few years ago where I took a road trip along the proposed route of a natural gas pipeline that ran from western Massachusetts to New Hampshire. It involved getting lost in the woods and talking to interesting people about this contentious pipeline.
Another was when I finished college and I started at NEPR in 2012. It was a presidential election year. The U.S. Senate race between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren was happening in Massachusetts and I had a chance to go to one of their debates in Springfield. Presidential election years are always pretty intense for journalists and, at the time, that election season seemed crazy.
What word do you often stumble over on air?
So far at VPR, I’ve had a hard time with ‘entrepreneurship,’ which is part of one of our underwriting messages.
If someone made a movie about your life, which artist would you want to compose the soundtrack?
Stevie Wonder or Prince.
Dream interview?
A president. I always thought interviewing Obama would be amazing, and I would also want to interview Trump if I got the chance.
When I’m not listening to public radio, I’m probably listening to…
Some kind of non-public radio podcast. For a long time I’ve liked WTF with Marc Maron, and Comedy Bang Bang as well.
What are you looking forward to doing in Vermont?
I’m excited to get deeper into working with this newsroom. I really love the group that’s here. They are a strong team with good collaboration. And I want to explore more of the state. I’ve heard about a lot of unique pockets I should check out.
You can follow Henry on Twitter here!
