A View From Second Life

Hockenberry, John, Vega, Suzanne. "A View From Second Life", Second City. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6375226

The virtual interview we listened to this week was a real eyeopener, and that's quite a stretch for a radio program. The program itself was light and entertaining with conversation between John Hockenberry and Suzanne Vega and several songs performed by Suzanne. The difference was that this was a "live taping of a radio show" in a virtual context. We could see everything on this radio show-the audience, the host and his guest, all their props-but we understood that this was not real but virtual. The characters talked and moved about , but their lips never moved. Suzanne had trouble getting her guitar in place, John forgot to put in his wheelchair and at one point disapeared from the screen. Through it all we were provided with genuine entertainment.
The program itself was especially entertaining. The interview was relaxed and engaging and Suzanne Vega is a wonderful entertainer. The presence of a virtual reality not only added to the show but brought the listener into the program in a personal way. Who among us could not relate to the computer glitches that John and Suzanne were confronted with and what about the way each created their own "avatar" and had so much fun with it. Remember John's metaphor about forgetting his wheelchair? He said it made him feel "like a plant unbounded from its roots" and now was free. Suzanne commented that now she could let her avatar deal with stage fright. In the end they reminded us that when things go wrong, and they did, "it's only radio".