For decades Robert Krulwich has had one the most distinctive voices in American public radio and journalism. And I don’t just mean the specific sound created by his vocal cords, but the personality that imbues his pieces and explorations. He has an enthusiasm, and an almost childlike exuberance unlike anyone else I know of on the airwaves.    

He’s best known these days as the co-host of WNYC’s Radiolab, where he plays both foil and co-conspirator to Jad Abumrad. But Robert’s connection to radio goes back to the heady early days of National Public Radio. He joined the network in 1978 when it was just getting going, and it was there that he made a name for himself by explaining complex topics, in fun, offbeat ways.

He stayed at NPR until 1985, And while now he is best known for his radio work, he has also reported extensively for television.  For 22 years, Krulwich was a science, economics, general assignment reporter at CBS and ABC News and also worked on PBS programs such as Frontline and Nova. 

What I love about Robert, and what makes him such a great journalist, is that for most of us, curiosity seems to be a relatively quiet pull, or tug within us.  Maybe it drives us to pick up a book, or do a few google searches. But for Robert, curiosity almost seems  like a being that possesses him. It’s something that propells him forward, and animates him, and leads him  to marvel at all sorts of things that most of us wouldn’t think of to ponder. Things such as 'How much does a Hurricane weigh' or 'what nationality are you if you’re born on an airplane?' 

Robert Krulwich is like your favourite mad professor, who is able to turn things that normally seem drab and dull, into questions, and mysteries that you can’t wait to learn more about. And it’s contagious. You can’t help but feel a bit more lust for life after hearing Krulwich talk.

As New York Magazine put it, he’s "The man who simplifies without being simple.” And even more impressive than that for me is the clear joy and fun he has in the process along the way.  

I spoke to Robert about his childhood in New York, his early capers as a 'pretend' teenage journalist, and the life long career he's made for himself out of following his own curiosity. Listen to our interview with Robert Krulwich here. 

When it first began in its modern form in 2005, Radiolab wasn't quite like anything else in the radio landscape. 

Highly produced and full of intricate soundscapes, Radiolab was more like a series of films than a regular broadcast radio show - something hit home by the fact that the program only produced (and still only produces) about 10 or so full length episodes a year. 

But even though when it was first being distributed there weren't even programming slots on most stations that would lend themselves to such a periodically produced show, through its captivating explorations of science  and philosophy, Radiolab quickly managed to carve itself out a space on stations across the country and a sizeable legion of fans to go along with it. In fact within a couple of years, not only had Radiolab found a place for itself in the radio landscape, arguably it had helped to usher in a new golden age of the form. 

More than any other program in recent memory Radiolab showed what could be achieved with the medium of radio, and encouraged others to try to push the envelope of using sound in the service of storytelling. It inspired an entire generation of up-and-coming radio producers to take creative risks and experiment. 

As Ira Glass put it in a glowing letter of appreciation, Radiolab “invented a new aesthetic for the medium.” And the program has been hailed everywhere from The New York Times to The Guardian  for its thought-provoking pieces, unique sound, and overall approach to storytelling. 

Part of what makes Radiolab so unique is that it uses sound in a way that is oddly visually evocative.  Whether it's to give you a sense for how a homing pigeon navigates and 'sees' the world, or the interplay between firing neutrons, the program paints a picture in the mind of listeners in a way that no other show seems capable of. It stitches together voices, interviews, commentary, effects, and music in a way that seems effortless while at the same time highly refined. 

But what most sets Radiolab apart for me is not its innovative sound design, but rather its sense of imagination and ability to deal with big questions of philosophy, life and science in a manner that is relatable, and in a way almost visceral. It walks the line between being both serious and playful, incredulous and earnest. It merges multiple worlds, makes connections, and zooms in and out from the tiny to the universal. With Radiolab one moment you might be contemplating the life of an ant, and the next peering over the edge of space trying to conceive of the infinite. The result is that as the listener you're often left in a state of wonder, and contemplative ambiguity about the large mysterious world around you by the end of the program. 

Today, almost 10 years since it emerged on the scene, Radiolab is of the most downloaded podcasts in the world and is broadcast on more than 450 NPR member stations across the country.  

I had the chance to speak with Jad at WNYC about the birth of the show, his life growing up in relatively undiverse Tennessee as an Arab child, and the bumpy unpredictable ride  (with ample servings of self-doubt and failures along the way) he took to end up as one of the most inventive minds in modern radio. 

Listen to our interview with Jad Abumrad below, and To hear more of our conversations with the voices of radio, subscribe to the Radiowaves podcast in iTunes.