Radio show host
Age • 34
Why he’s interesting • As the host of “The Sound of Ideas” Monday through Thursday morning on WCPN 90.3 ideastream, Moulthrop leads a dialogue among “newsmakers, policymakers and tastemakers,” and anyone who wants to call and join in. Topics range from the city’s shrinking population to its growing technology infrastructure, from urban sprawl to elder health care, from racism to ecology and from schools to sports teams. In Dr. Phil terms, Moulthrop brings together the people who help us make sense of our world.
Jail time • Moulthrop, raised in New Jersey, moved from the San Francisco area to Cleveland less than three years ago. Back in California, he was a high school English teacher — and a teacher at a county jail (just visiting!). Teaching rowdy prisoners prepped him to teach high school freshmen, he says, and teaching those high school students prepped him for live radio.
Wise words from his mom • “When you don’t get what you want, you get experience.” It’s his guiding principle when the live call-in show doesn’t go as well as hoped.
Ohio bound • He and wife Dorothy, a Shaker Heights native, were both teachers at the same California school. The move to Northeast Ohio was dictated by “the rules of their engagement,” he quips.
So he roots for ... • Moulthrop wasn’t a big sports fan before he arrived in Cleveland. “I found life here is a lot more fun when you’re a sports fan. You can’t fight the drive to be interested in sports here.” He then starts rattling off Indians stats so quickly our pens can’t keep up. We believe him.
Is WCPN more like “NewsRadio” or “Frasier”? • Neither. The movie “Broadcast News” hits slightly closer to the bone, he says, but it’s still not perfect. “Not since ‘Family Ties’ has public broadcasting been adequately represented in mainstream media.”
