Name: Pope Brock
DJ Name: Pope Brock
Show Name: Dog’s Dinner
Broadcast Time: Wed 8:30-10 pm
Local or Transplant? Transplanted many, many times
What do you do at WMPG? DJ – Dog’s Dinner on Wednesday evenings.
How did you get involved at WMPG? I did some acting in Fred Greenhalgh’s wacked-out futuristic radio series The Cleansed, where thanks to the miracle of the medium I got to play three different characters who all got killed. He told me about WMPG – I was new to the area – and that they actually trained people off the street. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know there was such a thing.
How long have you been at WMPG? I started subbing in the fall of 2012. When I showed up for my first shift, the guy at the board handed me something and said, “Here’s the next promo,” and I said, “What do you mean promo?” Bit of a brain-freeze. I was nervous.
What do you do when you aren’t volunteering? I’m a writer, author of three books: Indiana Gothic, about the murder of my great-grandfather; Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him and the Age of Flim-Flam (he made millions of dollars implanting goat testicles into – well, I won’t spoil it); and most recently Another Fine Mess: Life on Tomorrow’s Moon. The book I’m working on now is set in Africa in the 1930s. Otherwise like most of us I’m doing my small part to feed the resistance and not have a stroke.
Why is WMPG meaningful to you? It’s been a dream come true. In a way working overnights, which I did for the first couple of years, was the best of all because if you’re wearing headphones and sending out tunes to bakers and cab drivers in the middle of the night you can 1) play anything you want and 2) self-mythologize like crazy. Musically it has also expanded my horizons tremendously because you really have to dig like a terrier to keep finding new things so the show stays fresh. Mostly I mean music but without that spur I would also never have discovered and been able to share audio of Salvador Dali giving English lessons or Alice B. Toklas’ recipe for hashish fudge or the interview with Andy Warhol’s hairdresser. Best of all though is just being a member of the clubhouse. I think we all bring our best selves to ‘MPG when we walk in the door there. Seriously.
Here is how to keep up with Pope:
popebrock.com. Stop by!
Interview by Annella Date: May 2018
Photo supplied by Pope Brock