Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Carolyn Hutcheson on Culture and Canoeing

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Carolyn Hutcheson on Culture and Canoeing · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Rosa Parks Museum on Troy University's Montgomery campus,
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  located on the spot of Mrs. Parks' historic 1955 arrest,
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  and featuring exhibits that chronicle the history of the Montgomery bus boycott.
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  More information at troy.edu slash rosaparks.
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  Culture.
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  Culture.
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  Culture.
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  Equality, equity, and justice.
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  Religion as culture.
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  It's hard to define.
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  Belonging.
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  I would get passed over.
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  Conflict.
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  Conversation.
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  There are conflicts that happen.
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  It's life.
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  Celebrate differences.
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  Compromise.
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  Cooperation.
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  Culture.
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  Culture and belonging.
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  Welcome to the Culture and Belonging podcast from Troy University
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  and the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness.
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  I'm Rich Ledet.
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  And I'm Wendy Broyles.
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  Our guest today is one of the most trusted voices in radio.
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  Carolyn Hutcheson is the host of In Focus on Troy Public Radio.
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  Carolyn has worked in broadcasting for more than four decades,
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  and in that time she's interviewed thousands of guests,
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  including artists, historians, musicians, and public officials.
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  But today we're turning the tables on this master interviewer
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  and asking her to talk about the one topic she's usually too modest to discuss herself.
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  I've been a public radio listener my whole life since I was a child.
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  And, you know, I moved to Troy from northern Indiana.
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  So here I am in a new place.
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  I don't know what's going on.
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  But I turn on Troy Public Radio, and I get to hear these voices.
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  And I get to hear these stories.
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  And along comes the In Focus podcast.
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  And I think In Focus has done more to help me stay informed about culture and the arts
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  and just what's happening in the wiregrass and throughout the state,
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  probably than, you know, any other program.
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  So thank you for that, Carolyn.
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  Well, Rich, you are too kind because I am your fan,
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  and I am Wendy's fan on the Culture and Belonging podcast,
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  which is achieving a three-year mark.
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  Congratulations.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you.
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  But, see, your show also helps capture these little snapshots, right?
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  And I think that is very valuable from a—I mean, I'm an instructor.
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  I use our podcast in my classrooms.
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  But the podcast helps us go back in time and hear something, right?
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  So those stories are available.
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  We can download them.
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  But I think these are data points that are important to help us understand more about culture.
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  And I think your podcast does that.
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  We have different formats, but, you know, your podcast is getting that information out there as well.
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  Well, thank you so much for those comments.
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  And, actually, my goal is to introduce a topic to the listeners in hopes that they will pursue it on their own.
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  I love that.
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  I listened to a couple episodes recently, and I was checking out, where do I buy tickets for this show?
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  You know, like, I don't turn on public radio without hearing some kind of book recommendation
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  or a new musical artist to tune into or something every time.
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  And your show is one of those touch points that adds to the list every time.
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  So thank you.
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  Wendy, you have identified something really important, not about me personally,
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  but according to Neuroscience News in the February issue of 2026,
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  that article says that lifelong learning is linked to a five-year delay in the onset of Alzheimer's.
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  Oh, well, good.
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  They did a study of 2,000 people.
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  So I am lucky, really, to be involved in this.
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  Well, you've got to keep the connections in the brain.
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  That's right.
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  You've got to keep those neurons firing.
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  So, Carolyn, the other thing about our show, and we've talked about this before,
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  we don't just want to hear from those academic experts, hey, define culture, right?
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  Because culture means something to all of us.
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  Right.
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  So that's why we think it's important to get individual perspectives, no matter what a person's background is.
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  So when we say the word culture, what is Carolyn Hutchison thinking?
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  Well, I'll tell you a personal story that illustrates my understanding of culture and belonging,
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  the name of your podcast.
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  When I was a child, my family moved to Atlanta, and I went to an elementary school,
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  walked up to a group of girls to say hello, make friends.
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  They called me a name and walked away from me.
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  And I didn't understand what that meant.
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  Come to find out, we had moved into a Jewish neighborhood.
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  I was going to a predominantly Jewish elementary school, and I didn't know I was a Gentile.
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  I had to learn the meaning of that word.
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  But consequently, I made friends with everyone.
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  I had playmates in the neighborhood who were Jewish.
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  We had a wonderful time.
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  The upshot of this whole story is that the local TV station dropped my favorite program.
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  Oh, no.
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  My favorite program.
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  So I decided to start a petition among my classmates, and I got about 100 of them to sign this petition.
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  Oh, that's great.
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  Both Jewish, both Gentile, you know.
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  And I sent that off.
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  And the show sent us about 100 and something records.
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  So I had to go around to everyone who signed that petition, give them a record.
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  But through that experience, I began to understand what culture meant.
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  Because the Jewish students would go to Hebrew school every afternoon.
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  And I learned to navigate that, and I've never forgotten that lesson.
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  So consequently, today, I have a special feeling, a special regard for people who went through the Holocaust.
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  And I have been privileged to interview several of the Holocaust survivors.
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  But that culture, struggling to survive against all odds in World War II, I feel very close to them.
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  And it was quite a learning experience for a young child.
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  I bet.
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  Well, that's also an example of how people have to stay together.
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  Yeah.
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  Right?
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  I mean, that's the story of the Jewish people in World War II.
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  I mean, that togetherness, that's their survival mechanism.
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  Yeah.
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  So your definition of culture really makes us think about culture as this big, a bigger phenomenon, right?
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  So having said that, how does belonging fit in, right?
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  If we're going to get you to define belonging as well, because, again, we're collecting definitions here.
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  We're trying to learn.
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  What does belonging mean to Carolyn?
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  Belonging means finding something in common with another person, whether they have a different culture or not.
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  I have had the privilege of dealing with a lot of different people.
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  And we always find some common ground to laugh about or share.
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  And it really works.
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  So navigating the culture means finding something in common with other people that you can share and feel close to.
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  So that petition you got all your friends to sign, that was your kind of symbol of these are my people, right?
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  Carolyn the activist.
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  Yes.
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  That's what I'm doing.
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  Yeah.
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  At 10 years old.
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  That's awesome.
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  So you've interviewed what thousand people.
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  What are some tips from the interviewer's perspective?
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  Because, I mean, if you're going to if you're going to interview, you got it.
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  You got to figure out how to get into someone's head, get them to tell you their story, right?
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  Get them to answer your questions.
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  What are some ways that we can from the interviewer's perspective?
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  What are some ways that we can kind of get to know someone from another cultural background or from any background?
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  Just someone we don't know.
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  Use your curiosity.
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  Use your curiosity and also approach it with the right attitude.
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  Okay.
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  That is so important.
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  Do a little reading, you know, do a little reading on the subject or that culture and see if you can find common ground.
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  I think that is the key in this day and age.
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  Finding common ground and respecting that person, respecting their experience, respecting what they've been through.
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  That will be feverishly right notes.
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  Well, and I've one theme that's come and I might just be the one pushing this, but, you know, it's the idea that you got to you got to want it.
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  Right.
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  You've got you got to want to learn.
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  You know, you got to want to find that common ground that you're that you're talking about.
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  And I'm of the mindset that you can foster curiosity.
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  Yeah.
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  You know, we may not instantly be curious about things we don't know.
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  Right.
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  But I think you can create an environment.
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  You know, I do it in the classroom as much as possible.
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  Create an environment where students want to be curious about the topic that we're studying.
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  You know, 42 years in broadcasting wisdom right there.
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  Well, I have a friend who's a worldwide traveler and I don't travel the world, but I feel that I travel through other people's experiences that they share with our radio listeners.
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  So I sort of am a vicarious traveler through these interviews and thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, if it's a part two interview.
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  Right.
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  Just living their experience.
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  So do you have like a go to question that you use for getting to know someone?
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  What I try to do because I have such a limited amount of time compared to your show is I try to do a little homework.
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  For instance, when I was reading up on Rich and his bio, I caught this sentence about how he had done research in Afghanistan.
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  Right.
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  So to me, that is a conversation starter because that experience is different from someone else's experience.
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  And what I try to do is bring to the listeners those experiences.
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  That's good.
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  In other words, if we all say the same thing, that's not a very interesting program.
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  But when I picked out Rich's experience in Afghanistan, I thought, wow, what was he doing there?
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  What did he learn?
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  What can he share?
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  Yeah.
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  So I'm always trying to bring a new angle or new information to the listeners because I don't think they won't be here the same old thing.
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  I know.
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  Well, I was able to do my work because I was taught how to learn.
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  I mean, I've trained as a political scientist, so a lot of my training was in methodology.
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  And I can apply those methodologies to different problem sets, if you will.
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  Much like the interviewer knows how to, you know, there's a set of questions you can ask, but you've got to be adaptable, right?
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  You ask the right questions in the right situation.
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  You know, so that's some similarities between the work that I did before and the work that you do as a podcaster and a broadcaster.
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  And, you know, well, the work that we do here at Troy Public Radio.
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  Yeah, you always want to bring something new to the table.
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  And I'm always discovering things about people.
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  It's so interesting.
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  Right now, I'm doing several interviews with a guy named Jake Braun.
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  He was the National Cyber Security Deputy Director in the White House.
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  Wow.
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  At a previous administration.
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  Guess what?
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  He got a master's in political science at Troy University through remote learning.
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  That's cool.
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  I teach in that program.
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  See, this was about 15 years ago.
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  He got this.
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  That's awesome.
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  This shows that Troy was a pioneer in distance learning.
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  One of the first.
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  Yeah.
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  So, we're all educators.
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  The podcaster is an educator.
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  And we're learners.
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  And we're learners.
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  So, if our listeners listen to this podcast and they only take away one thing, what do you want that to be?
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  Keep those phone calls and letters coming.
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  Because I have a lot of requests for interviews.
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  A lot of requests.
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  So, we need to keep that two-way conversation going.
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  Don't just listen, but reach back out.
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  Reach back to Troy University.
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  And let us know what you want more of.
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  Let us know if you have, like Rich, you were talking about, you've got some subjects you and I can explore together.
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  So, keep that two-way going.
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  Because that is really the beauty of radio.
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  When you're in your vehicle, by yourself, traveling somewhere, your companion is the person on that radio, on your radio.
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  So, you are talking directly to one person at a time.
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  It's a very personal conversation.
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  Personal connection.
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  Keep the two-way conversation going.
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  I like that.
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  That's succinct, smart, and I think I might use that.
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  I'll give you a citation, though.
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  He's going to go academic on us.
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  Tell us about your outdoor adventures, Carolyn.
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  Well, professionally, I started out in a field called outdoor education.
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  So, I had a career of about 12 years.
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  And I ended up training camp directors.
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  You know, children going to camp.
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  I am a total believer in the value of the camp experience in training children to love the outdoors and be able to navigate in the outdoors.
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  So, I became a canoeing instructor and directed a canoeing program at a girls camp in North Carolina in the summers.
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  I became a swimming and water safety instructor.
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  And river rescue, all of that.
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  And I'm an almost lifelong canoeist, exploring rivers.
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  And I'm talking whitewater rivers as well as regular rivers.
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  Or flatwater rivers.
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  And it had been my life.
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  It really has been my life.
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  So, I feel very strongly that outdoor education is extremely important.
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  Bringing up children in the outdoors to be comfortable.
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  You think about how we're surrounded by social media these days.
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  If kids don't get outside and learn about the outdoors and learn what the outdoors has to teach them, we're not comfortable in nature.
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  So, that's my big soapbox right there.
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  And I am still passionately devoted to that.
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  I love that.
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  Do you have some favorite spots in the wiregrass area?
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  I do.
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  I hesitate to share them because some of these rivers are very dangerous.
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  And I don't want to give people ideas if they're not trained and equipped to do that.
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  And we don't want to overcrowd them.
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  You're right.
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  You're right.
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  Right.
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  But, you know, when the movie Deliverance came out.
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  Oh, no.
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  That's what did it.
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  And my canoeing partner and I have been paddling together for many decades.
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  Oh, my goodness.
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  That's cool.
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  And I've only come close to dying once.
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  Only once.
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  Whoa.
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  I get in the water as often as I can with the river keepers around here.
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  I believe you talked to one of my friends, Michael Mullen.
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  Mike.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  Mike and I go way back to an outdoor organization we were on the board for.
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  Yes.
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  Yeah.
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  No.
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  And I mean, I grew up in the swamp in Louisiana.
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  Oh, wow.
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  So, I had no choice, you know, down the bayou but to appreciate nature.
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  Whether I did or not.
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  I love swamp paddling.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  Oh, that's great.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  Well, I learned how to stand up in a pirogue with a push pole a long time ago.
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  Oh, yes.
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  So, you know, I do my thing, too.
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  Good for you.
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  I think that is fantastic.
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  A pirogue is, I've never had the pleasure, but it sounds interesting.
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  Well, you ought to try stand-up paddle boarding, Carolyn.
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  You might enjoy that if you haven't tried it.
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  I've been standing up in a canoe for a long time.
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  There you go.
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  Scott Rapids standing up.
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  Yes.
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  Wow.
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  That is awesome.
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  That is awesome.
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  But I do believe outdoor education has a major part to play in the field of education.
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  Yeah, I think you're absolutely right.
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  And I think it's also something that we've kind of gotten away from as a society, as a whole.
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  Well, you know, this concept of telling someone to go touch grass is really out there with the young college students, high school students.
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  Right now they're starting to realize that social media is, you know, detrimental.
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  Is rotting their brains.
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  Right.
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  And so they will tell each other if they're having a bad day, they will turn to each other and say, go touch grass.
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  Yeah.
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  It's coming back around.
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  These young adults are going to be all aboard the outdoor education train if they're not already leaning that way.
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  Well said, Wendy.
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  I've heard students use that phrase.
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  And I'm like, really?
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  Go touch grass.
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  Yeah, I get that.
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  But I don't know.
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  For my generation, our generation, it was normal to stay outside until it got dark.
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  We didn't have streetlights where I grew up.
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  My husband talks about when the streetlights came on, that's when you went in the house.
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  Right.
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  But we didn't have streetlights.
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  When it got too dark to see, to play outside, you went inside.
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  So it's just a totally different world right now with social media and all that.
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  We would wake up, have breakfast.
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  Mom would send us outside.
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  Yeah.
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  We would come in for lunch.
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  She'd send us right back outside.
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  If you got thirsty, there's the water hose.
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  Exactly.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  And as far as the hiking goes, we now here in Alabama have the beginnings of the Appalachian
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  Trail, thanks to the Penhody Trail atop Flag Mountain in Coosa County.
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  Oh, that's great.
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  So the Appalachian Trail is over 2,000 miles long.
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  I think it's the nation's oldest footpath.
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  And the Penhody connects to that.
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  Penhody means turkey.
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  And the sign on the trees that leads you on the path is the turkey foot.
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  So we've got abundant hiking opportunities, north, central, south Alabama, wonderful outdoor
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  opportunities wherever you go.
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  I was gifted a year pass to Oak Mountain, up a little bit north, Birmingham area.
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  So I've been exploring around there a little bit.
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  But you got me jazzed up to get out on the water, Carolyn.
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  Well, if you ever want to paddle in a canoe, I'm game.
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  Awesome.
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  That's great.
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  Our guest for this episode of Culture & Belonging has been Carolyn Hutcheson, host of Troy Public
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  Radio's In Focus.
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  We hope that you'll subscribe to the Culture & Belonging podcast wherever you get your
• 19:53
  podcasts.
• 19:54
  Stay up to date on all things culture and belonging by following us on Blue Sky.
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  Just look for at belongingpod.bsky.social.
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  Culture & Belonging is produced by Troy University and the studios of Troy Public Radio, by Austin
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  Toy, and with help from Kyle Gassiott.
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  So until next time, I'm Wendy Broyles.
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  And I'm Rich Ledet.
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  And this is Culture & Belonging.