Hello, I'm Chad Aboumrod. This is Radio Lab, the podcast, the Homecoming podcast, actually, welcome.

One of the things that Robert and I had in common when we met way back when was that we both went to Oberlin,

Oberlin College in Ohio. I did music as a composition major, and this was in the 90s. Robert studied history in the Cepia-colored 60s, at least in my mind.

And despite our difference in ages, we both left the school feeling like Oberlin was a really big part of who we are.

So, when we were asked to return to Oberlin to speak on campus on March 6, 2008 as part of their convocation series,

we were totally thrilled and nervous and terrified and thrilled. Anyhow, it was a snow-covered night

and we went into Finney Chapel. All right, Finney Chapel, those words mean nothing to you, but to us,

Finney Chapel is like Madison Square Garden because this was, you know, this is where you went to see jazz greats play and you heard speeches by cultural dignitaries. But there we were, these two schmows on stage talking, you know, to our old professors. And it was really quite weird, frankly. So anyways anyways we did a whole long lecture which got into lots of Oberlin nostalgia and we're going to spare you most of that but i'm going to

play just a couple excerpts from the evening where we tell stories about radio lab that you may not

have heard before to get started here is the robert and jad romance story. Well, not really. A story of how we met,

which centers around the first radio piece that we ever made together. I'm going to play that for

you. Never before heard radio lab piece. Prepare yourself. This is Radio Lab the early years.

So five years ago, I was working at WNYYC. I was sort of, radio lab was not yet a thing.

I was between jobs, so to speak, and someone hands me, program director hands me a stack of

scripts and says, go interview these people, and I did. And at the very end of the stack was a guy named Robert Crowich.

I sort of knew the name a little bit.

And he said, what's your story?

Before we do any of this, what's your story?

And I said, well, I work at WMYC and I freelance for NPR.

Me too.

He said, me too.

And then he asked me, what about before that?

...