THE PUBLIC’S RADIO: Meet

Meet Luis Hernandez

The person behind the new voice during your morning drive-time

In October, The Public’s Radio listeners said farewell to longtime morning host, Chuck Hinman. To welcome Luis Hernandez, new host of Morning Edition, he sat down with Maddie Mott, The Public’s Radio Director of Membership and Marketing, to talk about radio, some of his favorite stories as a journalist, and a few choice Rhode Island delicacies.

MADDIE MOTT: Can you introduce yourself?

LUIS HERNANDEZ: I am Luis Hernandez. I’m a 20-year radio broadcast journalist veteran. I am radio through and through – I love the medium. I’ve tried television, I’ve tried print – for me, radio is heavenly. By day, I am a radio journalist. By night, I’m a daydreamer, wannabe writer. I’m a podcaster. I’m also a little bit of an artist. And I’m still a kid at heart. When I can, I’m a gamer too.

MOTT: You’ve worked in broadcasting for a long time. How did you get into radio?

HERNANDEZ: This was by accident. I was in college. I was an art major in college and studying history as well. And it was my sophomore year at Flagler College. And they built a radio station on campus. And they had auditions for DJs. My friend Mike said, “Let’s go be DJs!” And I just said, “Sure, why not? That might be fun.” And it was fun. I’d never done it before. And I remember the audition – I went in and Dan McCook, who’s still there running the station, gave me a cue card. He said read this. I read it. He said, thank you. He caught up with me later. He said, “Have you ever done this before?” I said, “No.” He’s like, “You want a job?” And that was it. And I fell in love with it.

MOTT: Is there a story you covered or an interview you conducted that a ected you the most?

HERNANDEZ: There was one I remember that was really impactful. Years ago, I was hosting a show in Fort Myers. And we were talking about suicide survivors with family members whose loved one committed suicide. And I had a father whose son had committed suicide. And I remember I was very careful with the questions I asked, but at one point, he was a ected by it and he just couldn’t continue. I said, “We’re going to stop and you don’t have to continue, you can leave the room and then let me know.” And then the sad part about that story was four or five months later, I get a call from somebody who was part of helping us organize that show and the father had committed suicide. He’d gone into such a depression and he couldn’t handle it. Those kinds of things, they hit you.

Now on the brighter side, one of my favorite stories was this couple from Iran. This is when I was in Las Vegas. And they were artists, two very di erent artists, and they escaped Iran. Like at one point, the government’s like, “We don’t like what you’re doing with your art, we’re gonna come and get you.” They escaped in the middle of the night. But they had to leave all their stu behind. And somehow they ended up in Vegas. And it was such a fascinating interview. The husband didn’t speak English yet. So he was in the studio with his wife. And she was interpreting for him. And it was just this amazing story, and I went to see their work. They had met somebody who owned a gallery who made some space for both of them. And great. It turns out that show – and I’m not taking credit, but it’s just being in the right place at the right time. It’s the power of public radio. A professor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas was a big fan of the show, was listening and loved the story, met the couple [at the gallery], and two semesters later, they’re both teaching.

MOTT: Wow, that’s amazing!

HERNANDEZ: Yeah, I was so, so happy for them. There’s always great stu and sad stu because you know, we’re not focused on ratings. We’re focused on people and their stories. That’s what I love about the job.

Hernandez in the studio

MOTT: What are you most looking forward to as the new host of Morning Edition?

HERNANDEZ: More than anything, I want to bring more local. More local voices, stories, and conversations. And I want to find a way to get people to talk to each other and engage the audience. The biggest goal is local, local, local.

MOTT: What are you up to when you’re not on the air?

HERNANDEZ: Well, right now to try to find an apartment! I’m trying to get back into my art

more. I do own my own business on the side where I produce my own podcasts, and I do that really for just a creative outlet. There’s no intention of me doing it because I think I’m gonna be the next rich guy. It’s just for fun. I have been working on two novels I’m trying to finish. That keeps me pretty busy.

MOTT: What genre are your novels?

HERNANDEZ: One of them is a science fiction, climate fiction book that is a collection of short stories that takes place 50 years from now. Half of the stories take place in Miami, the other half in Las Vegas. It’s looking at the question of what are the cities going to look like in 50 years? Those cities are in real danger. Miami and Las Vegas are similar in that they have this really precarious relationship to water. So Miami will drown and Las Vegas will starve. But that keeps me busy.

Once in a while – listen, I’m a Gen Xer. I grew up with arcades and video games. And you know what? I will not deny the fact that yeah, I have not grown out of that.

MOTT: You’ve lived in a lot of places. You’ve lived in Florida. You’ve lived in Vegas. What are you most looking forward to about life in New England?

HERNANDEZ: First of all, to immerse myself in life here. I don’t know when I get to call myself a Rhode Islander. But that’s fine. Whatever I gotta do, I’ll do it. Wherever I go, I like to immerse myself in the community, in life there, because it helps me on air. I know that I’m not from here. I’m not going to pretend that I know everything. I’m not going to be that host. But, you know, the more I learn, the better I’m going to get at it. And Rhode Island – and it’s not making fun of it – but I love the fact that it is small. So I can get around to everything.

Because Florida, you can spend a couple days trying to drive out of it. I’m looking forward to going to the beaches and seeing all these different towns and getting out and about. I want to experience what life is like and I also am excited about being in a place that has seasons. Florida seasons are summer and lighter summer. I just have to go shopping for jackets.

MOTT: Alright, so my this or that round: Which Rhode Island delicacy are you most excited to try? Pizza strips or hot wieners? A pizza strip is a rectangle of pizza with just tomato sauce. No toppings, no cheese, nothing. And then, hot wieners are small hot dog[s] with celery salt, onions, mustard, and meat, like ground meat on top.

HERNANDEZ: They both sound good. In this case, I want to try the wiener.

MOTT: Stu es or Rhode Island clam chowder? And a stu e is a clam that’s minced up, mixed with onion and sausage and breadcrumbs, and then put back in the shell. And then Rhode Island clam chowder is like normal clam chowder but with a clear broth and bacon – so, no milk.

HERNANDEZ: Okay, gotcha. I’m gonna be the first to admit that I have never had clams.

MOTT: Oh my gosh.

HERNANDEZ: So you know what? Let’s say both because I have to try them.

MOTT: And then the last one. This is the most important one.

HERNANDEZ: Oh, gosh.

MOTT: Del’s frozen lemonade or co ee milk?

HERNANDEZ: You know what, the co ee. I will have to admit that I do miss Cuban coffee. It’s mostly co ee with milk and sugar. Very powerful ca eine. The small little shots of Cuban co ee will wake the dead. But yeah, no, the other one [Del’s] sounds really good too.

Listen to Luis Hernandez on Morning Edition Monday through Friday, 5-10 a.m.; also find him on Twitter @newsmediahost

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