Radu Stochita and LC Van Savage record their show, Granny and the Romanian, at the WBOR studio on the Bowdoin College campus. (Nathan Strout / The Times Record)
BRUNSWICK — In a tiny, cluttered radio station in a Bowdoin College basement, an unlikely duo is hosting an unlikely radio show.
“Granny and the Romanian,” which launched just last month, is a talk show encompassing all areas of life, from love to elitism and everything in between, told from the perspective of two individuals separated by a 61-year age gap.
The titular Romanian is 20-year-old Radu Stochita, a first-year student at Bowdoin College with a passion for storytelling.
The titular Granny is 81-year-old LC Van Savage, a Brunswick-based writer. She hosted IncredibleMAINE on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network for 15 years and was a columnist at The Times Record for 30 years before going on to write for the Coastal Journal.
In the show that aired Tuesday, Stochita and Van Savage tackled the topic of love. Van Savage mature relationship with her husband Stephen, to whom she has been married for more than 60 years, contrasted with the budding romantic relationship of Stochita and his girlfriend. Together, they share their thoughts and take questions from viewers on Instagram, where Stochita is streaming live video of their broadcast.
Despite the age gape, the two speak candidly about the issue and find more agreement than not in the brief half-hour installment.
“One of the reasons why the show works so well is, being so many generations apart, is we take an open mind an approach to it we learn that there are many things we can learn from each other,” Stochita said after the broadcast.
“We’re so many generations apart from each other, but we are more similar than we might think,” he added. “Sure we do lots of things differently … but empathy is still there.”
Stochita said that he hopes listeners can learn from the relationship he’s built with Van Savage, one that finds a lot of common grounds despite their vastly different experiences in life.
“It’s about how bridges can be built between people,” he said.
Their show is very conversational, and Van Savage noted that she wanted listeners to feel like they were eavesdropping on a dinner conversation between the two of them.
“We live in a world and a country, at the moment, that is so depressed and so broken and so sad and so negative. I don’t want to turn on the radio and hear more of it. I don’t,” said Van Savage. “So I think to myself, maybe someone will turn in to listen to us just be silly for a while.”
“We can make it serious for sure,” said Stochita, noting that upcoming broadcasts will tackle issues like guns and prostitution. “But Granny and the Romanian is more laid back, (to help you) relax after a day of school or work.”
The primary instigator of the radio show is Stochita, despite having absolutely zero experience on air before this year.
“I never listened to radio very much…but I got into storytelling,” he explained. “Storytelling was something I loved doing, and I’ve done it with writing letters to my friends, to my (girlfriend). I felt like I was always looking for mediums to tell stories.”
He even launched his own online magazine last year as an outlet for his storytelling and other writing and art. Titled Filatura after Stochita’s hometown, the magazine’s motto is that “nothing should be left unquestioned.” A cursory glance at the website shows contributions from students from Romania, Italy and Bowdoin College about such eclectic issues as student revolts in Italy, the role of male teachers in the classroom and art galleries. At just 20 years old, Stochita feels strongly that now is the time to explore different ways to communicate with people.
“I’m trying to see how I can tell stories,” said Stochita. “Then I heard about radio.”
After stumbling across some fliers calling for contributors for the Bowdoin College radio station, he decided to try creating content in a new medium. He started off with a half hour show playing desert rock and quickly realized that he wanted to do more.
“One day, I was meditating. I think a lot throughout the day — this is my problem — and I can’t keep my brain clear, so I try to meditate. Two minutes in, I was like, ‘We could do a radio show,’” he recalled.
Stochita reached out to Van Savage, who happened to be the mother of his host family–Paul and Kate Van Savage. The two already had a natural rapport and after some initial resistance Van Savage came down to the studio to record a pilot show.
“Well, I reminded him that I’m four times his age, but I just love radio. I listen to it, I grew up with it–It’s just always been a favorite of mine,” said Van Savage. “I’d done radio shows before, and I’d always wanted to get back into it.”
Now the duo is four episodes in, but they’re still experimenting, and Stochita’s vision for the program remains as freewheeling as his conversations with Van Savage.
“We’re content creators. We’re radio people as long as we have radio with us, but tomorrow we could move the show on TV,” said Stochita. “We take advantage of the mediums we have.”
This summer, the pair will be expanding from the world of radio to the seemingly ever-expanding world of podcasting. With Stochita set to leave the United States for the summer, the pair plan to continue the Granny and the Romanian conversation long distance in podcast form. Van Savage has bought mics for both of them to use, and they hope to continue publishing weekly content throughout the summer before returning to the radio in September.
“I think we’re experimenting, more or less, for now,” said Stochita. “We try different mediums to see how we can tell stories the best.”
“We are having the best time together,” said Van Savage in an email later that day. “And I hope I live to be 100 so we can continue doing the show until I’m on a gurney somewhere. It’s just great.”
The show airs every Tuesday at one on WBOR – FM 91.1, and listeners can tune in online at tunein.com/radio/WBOR-911-s27559/.
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