World Cafe at 35: Raina Douris and Stephen Kallao share their most memorable highlights
Oct. 14, 1991. 9:55 a.m. David Dye, original host of World Cafe, walked into the broadcast studios on the third floor of the turn-of-the-century building that housed the WXPN broadcast studios in West Philadelphia with script and headphones in hand for our first national World Cafe broadcast. Our then Senior Producer Bruce Ranes stood across from him behind the glass with our engineer and myself, counting down the minutes and then the seconds to go live. At the strike of 10:00:00 a.m. exactly, the then-new national show went out live to its five original affiliates, including WFUV in New York, KUMD in Duluth, Minnesota, KUNI (now Iowa Public Radio) and, of course, WXPN.
This month we celebrate the 35th anniversary of World Cafe. As Sandy Denny sings: “who knows where the time goes?”
I still have very clear memories of that first show. It was much different from the technologically advanced digital show produced now by our amazing team along with our current host, Raina Douris and contributing host Stephen Kallao. Back in 1991, we produced the show on tape. There was no internet as we know it now, yet. There was almost no video. We were lucky to have photos of our musician guests in the studio.
“First of all, that word ‘Live.’ What were we thinking,” David recalled. “We had a window on the NPR satellite at 10 a.m. Monday to Friday for two hours—which meant that at 10:00:00, producer Bruce Ranes thrust his finger at me through the glass we were on-air broadcasting to our first five affiliates from Iowa to New York City.”
And so the first show began. After a few seconds of our musical theme, “Tanacara” by Brazilian singer and songwriter Gonzaguinha, David went on the air, welcoming our listeners. “Hello, and welcome to the first World Cafe on the satellite. I hope you like it!”
The very first guest on World Cafe was Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn, who had just released his 20th album, Nothing But A Burning Light, produced by T-Bone Burnett, featuring a handful of extraordinary players. With just an acoustic guitar, Cockburn performed songs from the album including “Great Big Love,” “A Dream Like Mine,” and “Soul of A Man.”
Looking back over the years, we’ve had thousands of musicians on the air, performing in our studios, chatting with Dye, then Talia Schlanger, and now with Raina and Kallao. As executive producer of the show, listeners always ask me, “who have been some of your favorite guests.” I think for everyone who has worked on the show through the years—myself included since its launch—the answer is often “there were too many amazing performances and interviews to name!”
I decided to put that question to Raina and Kallao for the 35th anniversary. Here are some of their highlights of the many interviews they’ve done.
Raina Douris
Barbra Streisand — 2021
Barbra Streisand is a big, big deal, and going into this interview I was a little bit nervous. She broke the ice pretty early on when she noticed my Canadian accent and got me to say the words “chianti” and “pasta”—the interview went great, but the best part was getting roasted by a legend.
My dad… — 2023
My dad, Matt Douris, has played music all his life. Our house was full of instruments and I remember being a kid and seeing tapes and photos from when he was in a band before I was born, and he would talk about getting played on the radio in Toronto. For Father’s Day, I interviewed him about those bands and his love of music. It was so special to get to learn more about that side of him, and to get to play his music on my show.
Sense Of Place Chicago: Steve Albini — 2023
Getting to visit Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago was a dream come true. He was exactly how you’d hope he’d be: wearing his coveralls, offering you a coffee (at 10 p.m., by the way), explaining all the technical details of the space he’d designed. I felt like I could have talked to him forever. Someone who loved music, and making music maybe more than anyone I’d ever met.
Nardwuar — 2024
For years, I’ve had a picture of Nardwuar hanging up in my cubicle at every job I’ve had. As an interviewer, he is a hero of mine, someone I grew up watching and admire deeply. Obviously, interviewing Nardwuar comes with a certain level of pressure to be extremely prepared. He was so engaging and fun to talk to—and I left feeling inspired and so lucky to get to do this for a living.
MJ Lenderman — 2024
One of my favorite things about interviewing artists on World Cafe is that we have enough time to develop a rapport—I can take my time to draw someone out of their shell. MJ Lenderman made my favorite album of 2024 with Manning Fireworks, and he can be a pretty reserved guy in conversation. Over the course of this interview, he warmed up and we had a really great chat. Plus, I left with a book recommendation: Car by Harry Crews, which I ended up loving as much as Lenderman’s album.
Beverly & Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland — 2026
Interviewing artists virtually can be a challenge, especially when there are two of them. Added to that, Beverly Glenn-Copeland is dealing with a major cognitive disorder. But, guided by his wife and collaborator Elizabeth, they told their story together beautifully. You can feel the incredibly powerful love they have for each other in this session, when you hear it, it’s like being allowed into something so intimate and sacred.
Sense Of Place Dublin: Madra Salach — 2026
In the several years I’ve been hosting World Cafe and witnessing intimate live performances for the show, I don’t think I’ve ever been as deeply affected as I was by Madra Salach. These guys are so talented, such good storytellers, and their music is so intense that I had chills the entire time.
Kallao
Charley Crockett takes me into the ocean
Your goal is to have a conversation with the person sitting across from you. One thing I’ve repeatedly learned as an interviewer is you’re only as good as your dance partner. That applies to me, too! Over the years I’ve gotten a better vibe of my guest’s disposition, where they might want to go, and where not to go. Usually that means I avoid talking business, and I try to stay an active part of the conversation. Both of those things went out the window during Charley Crockett’s conversation. Charley was feeling reflective about his time in country music, and proceeded to offer a dissertation on the industry and its history. I could’ve tried to get him back on track, but hey, that’s the track he wanted to be on. Sometimes all you can do is hold on.
“What’s the best performance you’ve seen?” is a question I get a lot, and I’m already hedging! There’s no best…there are different kinds of amazing. However (I’m hedging again) when it comes to most memorable, I always return to this session with Bonny Light Horseman. Anaïs, Eric and Josh came in early, like 8:30 a.m. early. And it was just my engineer Chris and my producer John. Sitting in the round, they absolutely blew us away. Brilliant in its simplicity, it was the most beautiful performance of my time here.
Hanging out at the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music with Martin Atkins
I grew up in Chicago listening to industrial music. So, having a chance to go home to hang out with Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd., Pigface) and see the most comprehensive collection of post-punk and industrial memorabilia is my favorite field trip experience ever!
I’ve been lucky that no one has crashed an interview on my side of things. But while I was on the phone with Questlove, his boss crashed the party. And when your boss is the host of The Tonight Show (and your friend!) you let ‘em.
While I was talking to Damon Albarn of Gorillaz, he casually mentions he’s drawn a portrait of me. This is impressive because we’re on the phone and he’s never seen me. His manager sends the artwork. Damon says he should stick to music. I am still tickled to this day.
