LAL #051 — "Instant Intimacy": Interview with Chaz of WPLR 99.1 FM

Law and Legitimacy

Some of you may recognize the name. Others of you may not. I am confident all of you will love this interview.

Chaz is most known for being the co-host of the Chaz and AJ in the Morning Show, the Marconi Award-winning radio program holding the title of Connecticut's #1 morning show since 2003.

But enough about that. Chaz and I are kindred spirits on what is revealed to be a shared journey anchored by the quest for individual significance. Now is where I will shamelessly plug LAL #027 — On Orwell's "1984": The Imperative of Individual Significance for a primer to those of you newcomers to the podcast.

Chaz and I met some 16 or so years ago. In my line of criminal defense work, Chaz has been a consistent and reliable source of honest inquiry surrounding the most high profile of my cases. And those are a few of the words I would use to describe Chaz generally: consistent, reliable, and honest. Traits listeners of public radio deserve now more than ever.

This interview is fairly biographical. You'll learn about the 13 year-old Chaz that applied for a summer job for underprivileged children at a local radio station, and how that opportunity changed the trajectory of his entire life.

Before Chaz was Chaz, he was Charlie Phase. By 16, he was the youngest General Manager of a radio station in the United States. The rest is history.

I ask Chaz about his funniest moments as a wedding DJ, he shares the details about the time Michael Isner got him fired, and we uncover the nitty gritty of how the business really works—sometimes, your friend gets canned to make room for you.

At bottom, this interview coalesces around a shared admiration for how we as individuals actualize ourselves in the western world and how we reconcile our perceived personal failures on the way to connecting ourselves with what really matters. Chaz calls this "regular people doing extraordinary things."

I am glad to know that Chaz is learning how to relax on the weekends. And while he affirms to me that what I do is "real" by comparison, I cannot help but to think that the extraordinary feats of regular people would cease to exist without the instant intimacy Chaz creates with us through his radio broadcasts.

Listen and enjoy.

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