One Year On Air With 'World Cafe's' Talia Schlanger

In honor of Talia Schlanger's "OnAirNniversary" on April 3, NPR Extra caught up with the World Cafe host and discussed her favorite artists, appreciation for the WXPN team, and love of public media.

You were previously working at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, as a host for a triple-A radio show. What originally drew you to public media, specifically public radio? Why did you decide to join WXPN in the United States?

I love the depth, moral compass, and heart of public media. I grew up listening to CBC radio in Toronto where I'm from. When I was faced with the choice of where to apply for an internship in my last year of broadcasting studies at Ryerson University, I knew that was exactly where I wanted to be. I wanted to be in the same building as some of my Canadian broadcasting heroes, including Anna Maria Tremonti, Carol Off, Brent Bambury, and Matt Galloway, in the hopes that I could osmotically benefit from their brilliance. I was lucky enough to land a spot interning on a show called , hosted by Brent. After the first week of my six-week internship stint, I knew public media was for me. I loved learning that the audience's interests came first in terms of the way stories were shaped and the way