"Hello, Goodbye"... to Lead Producer/Reporter Abby Wendle

Cats, Zumba, and a Wedding [View this email online]( [Invisibilia]( As we count down to our final episode, we’ll be running a feature in the newsletter called Hello, Goodbye spotlighting our team members. We hope you’ll miss us as much as we’ll miss you. Sincerely, The Invisibilia Team --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, Goodbye to Lead Producer/Reporter Abby Wendle --------------------------------------------------------------- You can find me wandering around scrap yards in the Rust Belt. I do, if infrequently, check my [Twitter]( and [Instagram]( DMs. Invisibilia Origin Story: Alix beamed me up to the mothership (NPR HQ in DC) in the fall of 2015 out of a cornfield in Western Illinois where I was happily reporting for [Harvest Public Media]( on [stud dames]( and [corn husking competitions](. She was familiar with my non-farm-related work (via [Third Coast]( and [KCRW’s Radio Race]( and sent me an email out of the blue asking if I was interested in joining Invisibilia as a producer to support the new co-host, Hanna Rosin (at the time a radio newbie). I was shocked and flattered. After an incredibly awkward phone call, Alix invited me to DC for an interview. I sometimes get full body hives when I get nervous - and I was so nervous that I went to the doctor’s and asked for a preemptive prednisone prescription. I didn’t want my first impression to include a swollen eye or lip. But the doctor wouldn’t do it - so I flew to DC steroid-less and showed up with only a few red splotches on my neck. I have no idea how the interview went? I just remember being awash in a passionate and frenetic energy, punctuated by intense questioning and witty banter. When I returned home to rural Illinois with a “production test” assignment, I was determined to do my best. It was enough to get me hired for a temp position, which turned into a full time position, which turned into seven incredibly fulfilling years. What a privilege: everyday (over)thinking hard with a collection of passionate, intelligent, and funny (mostly) women, deeply listening to each other and challenging each other to deeply listen to ourselves. Producing sometimes calls for props like a finger puppet... (Left to right: Jake Arlow, Hanna Rosin, me.) ...or a lightsaber (in service of ego death). (Me and Alix Spiegel) Favorite episodes you've worked on and insights you’ve actually used in real life: Gosh, so many! I had a blast with former senior producer Cara Tallo reporting on weatherman James Spann in Birmingham, Alabama. We followed around James for an entire day from dawn til after dusk, which included a crossfit workout session and Zumba class. Reporting [that episode]( taught me how important it is to ride out uncertainty even when it’s uncomfortable. Me reluctantly helping lead Zumba class. (Thanks Cara Tallo for documenting this awkward moment.) James Spann kicking my butt at Crossfit. For [The Great Narrative Escape]( Liana Simstrom made my ridiculous dream come true by helping me organize a 12-hour long Norwegian Slow TV marathon watch party with listeners tuning in along the way. My back ached by the end of it, but my heart was full! I don’t know why it took a Nordic media experiment to remind me of the importance of thinking for yourself, especially when it’s hard… but I’ll take it! Thank you, David Gutherz, for believing in the absurd connection to democracy. And, Yowei, for the prompt (for being a prompter!) and all the engaging conversations we’ve had about narrative since. I also feel like my cat, Pickle (RIP), served as a special guest editor for this episode, teaching me all things slowness during our walks together in the woods. Pickle exploring the outdoors. David and me on our way to the Big City for an Invisibilia retreat. Yowei forever altered how I think about power and gave me the gift of new concepts like “[going deep sub]( Alix taught me alternative ways to tell a story in [Two Heartbeats a Minute](. She also pushed me to record [Renato’s howl]( which turned into a never-ending art project. I often tell people to listen to Lulu’s [How to Become Batman]( and Hanna’s [Flip the Script]( because they showed me how our expectations of each other and ourselves shape who we become - so expect with care! Kia’s [butt divot]( left a deep impression on me (lol), as did her example of how to get up and out. Clare Marie Schneider was a reporter’s dream producing [A Little Bit Pregnant](. And Ariana and Andrew have been a joy to make this show with over the years! Their sense of humor and grace - especially while putting this final Goodbye Episode baby to bed - are first rate. And finally, I’ve learned so much from all my editors and supervising producers along the way - Anne Gudenkauf, Deb George, Luis Trelles, Neena Pathak, Liza Yeager, Cara Tallo, Barrie Harydmon, Nicole Beemsterboer and Irene Noguchi. Thank you for letting me get lost in the weeds and helping me find my way out. #zoomlife with Neena, Yowei, Liana, Andrew, Irene, Ariana, me and Sylvie’s butt (not in a divot). BTS moments seared into brain: - Liana had an extra ticket to Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room installations at the [Hirshhorn Museum]( and invited me to go with her. We were totally starstruck when we saw none other than Ruth Bader Ginsberg in [the Penis Infinity Room]( RBG in the penis infinity room. Liana and me, starstruck. - Alix and I went to Vermont to interview James Payne for [Two Heartbeats a Minute](. I booked us two rooms in an Airbnb that looked like a large, beautiful farmhouse just outside of town. When we arrived after dark, that impression shifted. One of our bedrooms had a locked door that appeared to go nowhere - the other side was just the outside of the house. The halls were lined floor to ceiling with spools of ribbon. And in the morning, we heard strange vocalizations. I think Alix was joking when she said it was haunted, but I couldn’t sleep. The door to nowhere. The spools of ribbon. - In the early days, I would bike to Hanna’s house to work in her attic office. I’d often stay for dinner. I don’t think I ever peed myself, but we often laughed that kind of laughter. Hanna modeling a t-shirt I bought her at an Indiana Walmart. - There are too many to count with Yowei Shaw! She taught me how to properly moisturize…we’ve gotten body piercings together…we have a matching tattoo (s/o to Pam and HEAT). There was the time she fell in love with my cat, Sylvester, and became a cat mom shortly thereafter. And she was there the night I spontaneously got engaged which arguably would not have happened - or at least not the way it did - without her. Me trying out Yowei’s skincare routine. Sylvester courting Yowei. - Remote work BTS moments are fewer and farther between! But I used my wedding as an excuse to get the band (physically) back together again… and it was AMAZING. Neena juggled in the conga line, Yowei roasted me, Liana and Petter medicated Sylvie, Liza lent an ear, Hanna and Lauren loved on us, David, Meghan, and Clare Marie danced with their full selves, and my husband pulled out his back posing for this photo. Thanks, babe. Meghan, Clare Marie, David, Liza, Peter, Hanna, Lauren, Liana, Petter, Yowei, Ryan, Neena, me at the wedding reception. --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. 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