Episode 285: ‘On The Air’ (Bill Ratner)

What’s the best way to usher in the New Year? On this week’s episode, legendary voiceover artist Bill Ratner shares a true story from his early days in Radio: When his green card bride Claudine leaves him, he’s alone during the Holidays in an empty double wide and his evening shift duties at KJOI (LA’s easy listening music station). So when a fan requests something a bit more intimate than the Percy Faith Orchestra, why not make her happy? And on New Year’s Eve, they produce their own live show together over the air waves, using the station’s 50,000 watts of power to make the world a bit less lonely.  And Dixie ends the year with the story you’ve been asking her for. #HappyNewYear

 

Song: ‘Love’s A Stranger’ (Warhaus)

 

New Year l Radio DJ l Drive by Fucking l Anonymous Sex | Music Request Line l Radio Antenna l 1970’s l Lubrication l Harlequin Romance Novel l Top of Topanga Mobile Home Park l Double Wide l Vaseline l Instrumental Radio l Muzak l Muumuu | Terrycloth Bathtub Animals l FM Transmitter l Top of the Hour l Station ID l Honda Civic l Radio Console l Blinking LEDs I Percy Faith Orchestra l Middle Age l Smog l Order Up a Man l Microphone l Los Angeles l Happy New Year l Divorce l Radio Tower l Lawrence Welk l Green Card l Quell l Radio Station l Marriage l Swiss l London l LA l Radio Announcer l Chief Engineer l Sales Manager l

 

About our Storyteller:

 

Bill Ratner is one of Hollywood's premier voiceover artists and a published poet, essayist, and fiction writer. He narrates movie trailers for Pixar's Inside-Out, Marvel's Ant Man, The Kid Who Would Become King, Cold Pursuit, The Emoji Movie, Coen brothers' Hail Caesar, Will Ferrell's The Campaign, MegaMind, Talladega Nights, etc., commercials for Hyundai, Sprint, Pizza Hut, etc., promos for CBS-TV, NBC-TV, ABC-TV, Cartoon Network, documentary narrations for Discovery, History Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Disney World, and is the game voice of "Donnel Udina" on Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3, and the cartoon voice of "Flint" on G.I. Joe, Robot Chicken, Community, and Family Guy.

 

One of America's leading storytellers, Bill is a 9-time winner of The Moth Story Slam and a 2-time winner of The Best of The Hollywood Fringe Festival Extension for solo performance. Bill's spoken word performances can be heard on National Public Radio's Good Food, The Business, and KCRW's Strangers. He has told stories at Comedy Central Stage, National Storytelling Festival, Long Beach Comic Con, G.I. Joe Con, Portland Storytelling Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Conference, National Storytelling Network Conference, and Los Angeles Unified School District classrooms since 1992.

 

Episode links:

Needle Play Acupuncture: Needle Play Acupuncture was made by and for the Kink, Leather, and LGBTQIA+ communities. We deserve to have our whole selves treated, because feeling great, playing hard and having spectacular sex can be health goals too.

NeedlePlay specializes in Transgender-affirming, kink-aware, and trauma-informed care that is sex and body-positive. They offer Expertise in Transgender care, from HRT enhancement to hair growth support. Plus, as you’d expect: Back pain, muscle pain, injuries, digestive issues, libido issues, mental health, inflammation, graceful aging through micro-needling, cosmetic acupuncture, and more.

 

For a limited time, Bawdy Storytelling Listeners