NPR listening parties popping up nationwide, including Chattanooga

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Snark, trendy and kinda pretentiousNPR listening parties popping up nationwide, including Chattanooga

Chewing, even with the latest in trendy foods, can be difficult with your tongue stuck in your cheek. Talking also can be tough.

At least that's what Macy Licht and her brother-in-law Chris Heintz discovered during the National Public Radio listening party the two hosted at Licht's house earlier this month. The two had bought all the foodie items they could think of like wine, craft beers, hummus, gourmet cheeses and "weird" chips.

"When we went to the grocery store, we looked for the most obscure things with names that you couldn't pronounce," Licht says. They forgot the kale chips, however, and nothing says trendy, or pretentious, like kale. And the invitation, after all, invited guests to enjoy a "Very Pretentious NPR Listening Party."

The listening parties, part of NPR's "Generation Listen," first cropped up in last year when an NPR team drove cross-country from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., introducing the idea to "young, curious people," according to a video on the group's Facebook page. During the trip, the team hosted listening parties in nine cities, including Birmingham, Atlanta, Winston-Salem, Washington, D.C., and Oxford, Miss.

At the parties, various podcasts that aired on NPR were played for the attendees, then a discussion followed on whatever subject the podcast addressed.

"Hearing other people's opinions helps you realize what you believe in," says Gina from Birmingham in the video.

Word spread through NPR radio stations, and now listening parties are being held across the nation. The podcast is based on talks given by speakers that are part of the world-renowned TEDTalks, with each show centered on common themes such as the source of happiness, crowd-sourcing innovation, power shifts or inexplicable connections.

Most of the invited guests to Licht and Haintz's party enjoy getting together for a healthy debate or conversation, and they like the programming that can be found on NPR. They also tend to not take things too seriously, which would help explain the fancy dress - some wore pearls and other fancy clothing and jewelry.

"People came dressed up and super classy or very hipster. It was kind of cosplay," Licht says.

There's even a month-by-month NPR Listening Party Kit available online. The kit has suggestions for sending out invitations, choosing a podcast, setting up the listening equipment, seating, lighting, food, cocktails (a classic Manhattan, of course) and suggested questions that are supposed to get the minds and mouths moving.

For the Chattanooga party, Licht, 24, and Heintz, 29, set the snacks out just so, and arranged the chairs for optimal listening and conversation as per the NPR kit. While the two colored their party in snark, they also believed it would be a somewhat serious evening of adult conversation. They were not disappointed.

One of the key recommendations from the kit is that all cellphones be turned over at the door.

"We don't have any pictures from the party because we took up all the phones," Licht says. No one seemed to miss them, she says.

Outside of Licht's Ridgedale home, the valet service they'd set up for friends who might arrive by bicycle went largely unused because of mud from an earlier rain, but inside the 20 to 25 people who came (they'd invited 30, expecting around 10) listened intently to the "What Is Beauty?" podcast they'd selected for the evening. When the hour-long show ended, the party-goers spent another 90 minutes discussing it either en masse or in smaller groups.

"Then about 11 o'clock everybody went out to the garage, which is like a rec center, and got drunk," Licht says.

She says she got the idea for the party from Instagram after reading that such events were popping up all over the country. After finding out that NPR has the how-to kit, she mentioned it to Heintz, a long-time fan of NPR and its thought-provoking programming. Licht originally thought NPR was overly pretentious, but Heintz wore her down, and now she's hooked.

Heintz admits that the snark was part defense mechanism lest anyone think they were serious. Which they were. Kinda. Sorta.

"It was so fascinating," he says. "It led to a lot of interesting conversations. Macy suggested it half-joking, but the more I thought about it, I thought we should do this. It seemed so ridiculous but, at the same time, it could be fun.

"It was great. I was amazed at how many conversations there were in the days to follow."

Heintz says churches organize events that are designed around honest and in-depth conversation, but there aren't many opportunities otherwise. He'd like to hold another NPR party, "but I think we have a lot fewer people. That many people can get unruly.

"I wouldn't want to do it all the time, either. It would lose its charm."

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6354.