I had the pleasure of appearing on Larry Davison’s final 2024 episode of his podcast, The Artful Periscope, which was a bittersweet finale as Larry said goodbye to his longtime sound engineer Chris DeChristofaro.
For five years, Larry, whose career spans decades in radio, TV, and other podcasts, has recorded The Artful Periscope in a library sound booth on Long Island, NY. Chris, a technology librarian, has been his right-hand man but is leaving the Sachem Library in Suffolk County to become the Assistant Director at Half Hollow Hills Community Library in Dix Hills, NY.
After recording the episode, Larry wished Chris well in a “final thoughts” clip where I learned Chris is also a podcast host. Since 2016 Chris has hosted The Library Pros, which he joked is pretty niche and “for people who are into libraries and technology.”
I can appreciate an excellent sound engineer, as Larry’s was my ninth podcast appearance since Chained Birds launched last month. But mostly, my respect comes from spending a week in a Philadelphia sound booth this summer recording the Chained Birds audiobook with my own amazing sound engineer Jeff King (Baker Sound Studios). Behind every great piece of audio, you can almost guarantee an engineer’s magical hands have touched it in some way.
I was Larry’s first interview in his two-author episode and was followed by best-selling author Daniel de Visé, who talked about his latest book, The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic. For many, Daniel de Visé is a household name. He’s an award-winning journalist and celebrated author whose books make all the lists (Blues Brothers is an Amazon Best Books of 2024 pick), and I can’t wait to hear his conversation with Larry. The episode will drop sometime next month.
What I love about Larry’s podcast is he enjoys interviewing debut-nobody authors like me alongside best-sellers like Daniel. I’ll have more to say about our chat and Larry’s esteemed career (including his celebrity roster of interviews) after the episode is out. 👏 🎙️
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
