Good conversation is the mother of great talk shows, and noted Chicago radio personality Emilie McKendall has successfully put that theory into action.
Conversing with friends inspired McKendall to create and host the radio show, “Emilie and Friends,” now airing on Saturdays on WVON AM 1690.
“A group of friends would generally come to my house, and we would just engage in conversation,” McKendall recalls. “We noticed that these conversations were very provocative, and were very interesting. Somebody in the group said, ‘Wow, this sounds like a radio show,’ and that’s how we got started. We created the radio show in my living room, the show is in its third year, and now it’s moving into television.”
That’s right — “Emilie and Friends” is crossing over to the tube.
“ ‘Emilie and Friends’ is provocative and it’s informative, in that we are solution-oriented,” McKendall explains. “We take issues that the community wants to hear about and we break it down into three sections, the history of our issue or subject; the issue that surrounds that subject; and, we also talk about tangible solutions.”
The show will be produced in Chicago, and will address issues that affect the city, but it’s not necessarily a local show, McKendall says.
“We have a national flavor in that we invite people from across the nation to give their viewpoints on the subject matter as well. We’re conscious-oriented, we’re community minded and we’re solution driven.”
So, will Emilie continue to produce both formats? Or, will she leave the radio station behind? McKendall, gives rolling out the scoop, keeping the details of the new venture close to the vest.
“I can’t tell you a whole lot about it, but the radio show is moving into a television format,” she states. “There may be an occasion to do both, we’re just focusing on the television aspect of it right now, because it’s something that people are really interested in. They don’t just want to hear about the issues, it’s also something that they also want to see.”
