September 8, 1986 marked the beginning of Oprah Winfrey’s journey from being a talk show host to becoming THE Talk Show host and a media mogul. In the fall of 2016, 30 years after Oprah’s journey began, a Chicago based station WBEZ released “Making Oprah,” a podcast hosted by Jenn White and produced by Colin McNulty. The podcast is comprised of three in-depth episodes that revisit the hits and misses of the Oprah Winfrey Show by way of past producers, staff, and most impressively, Oprah herself.
It’s safe to say we all have a list of people we admire for one reason or another and it would be an honor to meet them someday. Oprah has remained on my list for years. Every day after school, I, too, was one of the 40 million people who tuned into the Oprah Winfrey Show at 4pm. Oprah’s story was masterfully told through the lens of journalist Jenn White who included sound bites from past shows, behind the scenes stories from staff, little known facts about the motivation behind the moves Oprah made, and of course, her own experience of meeting Oprah. After digesting the entire “Making Oprah” I felt in some ways I finally got to meet Oprah vicariously through Jenn.
I implore anyone who has an interest in all things Oprah and exemplary storytelling, by way of host Jenn White, to check out the podcast “Making Oprah” that is available now!