It's Pronounced, 'Mee-shell'

October 24, 2011 11:26 AM

Michele Norris is temporarily stepping down from All Things Considered until her husband's new role as Senior Adviser to the Obama Campaign is complete in 2012.

The announcement exemplifies NPR's continued policy of remaining as apolitical as possible in light of today's reality of partisan, budget cutting frenzy as well as past (and recent) gaffes by NPR leadership.

posted by glaucon (101 comments total)

Surely THIS will make the Republicans happy and they'll welcome NPR with open arms!
posted by DU at 11:31 AM on October 24, 2011 [18 favorites]

Why didn't NPR didn't just fire her, and then apologize and rehire her, and then decide instead to cancel production of All Things Considered? Isn't that how they roll?
posted by Auden at 11:32 AM on October 24, 2011 [16 favorites]

NPR lost all relevancy a long time ago.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

*whistling down alleyway*

Soterios Johnson's comin' yo!
posted by unsupervised at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2011 [6 favorites]

Congrats to her husband, and I hope he works his ass off.

Note that she is staying on in a largely off-mic role (and recusing herself from election coverage) until after the election.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2011

Metafilter: "NPR, the fainting goats of American political media."
posted by Blasdelb at 11:37 AM on October 24, 2011 [11 favorites]

Making a Metafilter tag line? That's not how you do it.
posted by found missing at 11:38 AM on October 24, 2011 [8 favorites]

Blasdelb: "Metafilter: "NPR, the fainting goats of American Apolitical media.""

FTFY.
posted by Samizdata at 11:40 AM on October 24, 2011

found missing: "Making a Metafilter tag line? That's not how you do it."

Blasdelb was quoting another thread, not making a tagline.
posted by schmod at 11:44 AM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Incidentally, just to offset the Beavis and Butthead "that sucks" commentary in this thread, I'm glad NPR does what it does. Some of its mistakes are indefensible, but at least it is trying to present a quality objective news product.
posted by found missing at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2011 [14 favorites]

I'm gonna meesh her.
posted by punkfloyd at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2011 [35 favorites]

NPR lost all relevancy a long time ago.

Do go on.
posted by The White Hat at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2011 [16 favorites]

Blasdelb was quoting another thread, not making a tagline.

Understood, but then it needed a link, and no "Metafilter:"

Standards people!
posted by found missing at 11:48 AM on October 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

CONSIDER ALL THE THINGS
posted by rhizome at 11:49 AM on October 24, 2011 [45 favorites]

I had to stop listening to All Things Considered because Michelle Norris just grated on my nerves, particularly when she was pronouncing her name. Now if only Melissa Block would also take a vacation, I can listen again.
posted by Leezie at 11:56 AM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, for a long time I wasn't sure if her name was "Michelle Norris" or "Nichelle Norris".

...at least it is trying to present a quality objective news product.

Evolution stories done by the religion reporter? Really?
posted by DU at 11:59 AM on October 24, 2011 [5 favorites]

CONSIDER ALL THE THINGS
posted by rhizome at 2:49 PM

there
posted by ShawnString at 11:59 AM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

'Mee-shell'

The only other place I've heard that pronunciation is in a Beatle's tune.
posted by mmrtnt at 11:59 AM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'll miss her, but I do hope they'll keep Ari Shapiro on as a co-anchor.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:59 AM on October 24, 2011 [4 favorites]

Hey, yeah -- why is she pronounced Mee-shell, anyway? I don't actually hate her for it, but I figure, as a radio host, she must have a pretty compelling reason for sticking with that.

She appears to be the daughter of a Betty and a Belvin. Belvin?
posted by gurple at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Every time I hear Robert Siegel say his name on the radio, it sounds to me like Robert Seagull, and I want to ask him how his brother Jonathan Livingston is doing.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:01 PM on October 24, 2011 [8 favorites]

Oh ah? How do you pronounce "Leezie"?

I'm glad she's stepping down temporarily. Seems like the most sensible way to do this. I'm wondering how a network anchor would handle this same situation and if we'd be reacting differently to that because this is NPR.
posted by Maaik at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2011

According to this less than 10% of their funding comes from federal sources (figuring 6% member station funding into 34% station fee funding of NPR, plus some fraction of 7% in grants). Can Congress de-fund CPB as well? Michele Norris is now somehow responsible for 10% of NPR's funding?

I think I'd rather give a more to NPR funding drives and have them not go to these bizarre lengths to try to curry the favor of the asshole GOP members threatening their funding. I realize a disproportionate amount of the federal money goes to service rural stations, but ironically those are more likely to be the stations whose listenership is more likely to vote into office politicians who want to defund NPR.
posted by axiom at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2011

So if you are married to someone political, you have no choice but to also be a political figure and leave your job? That does not sound ideal.

What is the other pronunciation of Michelle?
posted by jeather at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2011

(Also, she pronounces her name like that because that's how her father pronounced it. I believe she discussed it in her book.)
posted by Maaik at 12:04 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

That guy Mormon Olney could use a little diction practice, too.
posted by Aquaman at 12:04 PM on October 24, 2011

Since we're talking NPR hosts, anyone else find Netta Oollabee's sing-song, 3 syllable lilt like nails on chalkboard?

(no idea how to spell her last name and not going to google it. )
posted by webhund at 12:06 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: That's not how you do it.
posted by hal_c_on at 12:06 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

(Also, she pronounces her name like that because that's how her father pronounced it. I believe she discussed it in her book.)

So then do I call it "gubment" or "government"
posted by hal_c_on at 12:07 PM on October 24, 2011

why is she pronounced Mee-shell?

It's the common pronunciation in French. But why does it matter? She can pronounce it however she likes.
posted by me3dia at 12:08 PM on October 24, 2011 [9 favorites]

It's the common pronunciation in French. But why does it matter? She can pronounce it however she likes.

I was going to say "its radio...half my pals think she is saying 'knee-shell'". But then I remembered how this Michele pronounced her name...and if I was Norris, I would be all "no...not mish-ell...its mee-shell".
posted by hal_c_on at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2011

But why does it matter? She can pronounce it however she likes.

Good point, Endraugh. Good point.
posted by gurple at 12:14 PM on October 24, 2011

See also: "Reporting from Los Angeles in perfect, unaccented English, this is [in heavy accent] Monda-LEE Del BaRRRRco."
posted by Ratio at 12:21 PM on October 24, 2011 [13 favorites]

Blasdelb was quoting another thread, not making a tagline.

Yeah, but he was quoting another thread quoting twitter. So it should read:

Blasdelb: "Metafilter: "Someone on Twitter: "NPR, the fainting goats of American Apolitical media."""

_{Bonus: Metafilter: "It's pronounced Mee-fi"}
posted by delmoi at 12:23 PM on October 24, 2011

"Reporting from Los Angeles in perfect, unaccented English, this is [in heavy accent] Monda-LEE Del BaRRRRco."

Actually, I respect that a lot. It's not super easy to flip back and forth between accents.

Plus, how else would she say it, to make it less distracting for an American audience? It's not exactly a typical American name.
posted by gurple at 12:25 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

If a Latino broadcaster is named "Jesus", would you have him pronounce that in an American English accent as well?
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:28 PM on October 24, 2011 [4 favorites]

If a Latino broadcaster is named "Jesus", would you have him pronounce that in an American English accent as well?

Only if he's really funny.
posted by hal_c_on at 12:31 PM on October 24, 2011

It's such a shame that a move like this is so rare in the news industry. I feel like I've read time and again about research showing that no matter how objective one can try to be, it is easy for natural bias towards friends and gift-givers to slip in and be rationalized as objectively grounded (e.g. doctors and pharmaceutical reps). Some of the other moves by NPR have been over the top, yes, but this one seems totally reasonable, especially as she's just moving positions briefly. Ideally, this should have nothing to do with the presence or absence of federal funding and everything to do with the integrity that comes with being a real news agency. That Norris and NPR have more integrity about such matters than a couple of supreme court justices should be celebrated, not presented as a sign of weakness (for NPR, at least).
posted by Schismatic at 12:32 PM on October 24, 2011 [8 favorites]

It's not super easy to flip back and forth between accents.

If you're fluent in both, it is.
posted by jeather at 12:33 PM on October 24, 2011

I had a friend once, with a name--like Michele Norris--that all Americans expected to be pronounced with a short vowel. However, like Michele Norris, she pronounced it with a long vowel. It was her name. Her parents had given it to her; she accepted it; she used it. She never mispronounced her own name; it was, after all, her name. Not the name of people she was introduced to, not the name of people she knew.

I had a housemate--rarely an asshole, but usually just clueless and often careless about other people, their feelings, their expectations, their existing in his space--who simply could not, under any circumstances, get it through his thick skull that her name was pronounced with a short vowel not a long one. Once, finally, so irritated with his complete lunkheaded inability to recognize he was constantly mispronouncing this woman's name, I began interrupting him every time he said it wrong. It was surprising how often he said it wrong.

So, we started changed the short vowel in his name to a long vowel and called him that. It did not change his inability to call the woman by her actual name (long vowel and all), but it lessened her irritation at being constantly told her name was wrong.
posted by crush-onastick at 12:36 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is smart. I think that this should be done by any network in any similar situation.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:37 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I feel upset about this and I have no specific program or remedy but hope that one will emerge from group yelling in place of a public address system. Therefore I declare #OccupyATC (Occupy All Things Considered). We can setup our tents on the roof desk roof deck. Naturally we will demand good seats at any tiny desk concerts.
posted by humanfont at 12:43 PM on October 24, 2011

This is smart. I think that this should be done by any network in any similar situation.

I think it's silly. She's not her husband. She's not working for the Obama campaign. If she was, they'd never let her come back. Since she's not, what her husband does or who he advocates shouldn't matter.
posted by inturnaround at 12:43 PM on October 24, 2011

In its efforts to be impartial, NPR can't tell Left from Right.

...which was the only story in NPR's weekly email of "most emailed stories" (yes, I subscribe to it, partly because it's hilariously redundant) that I did not see previously on MetaFilter
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:47 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I had a friend once, with a name--like Michele Norris--that all Americans expected to be pronounced with a short vowel. However, like Michele Norris, she pronounced it with a long vowel.

My child's name has a short A. Never occurred to us that it could be anything else.
However, a sizable percent of the population(including my parents, gallingly enough) pronounces the name with a long A.
It's irritating, though I'm never quite sure if I should correct people or just let it go. Most people will make the effort to get it the way we pronounce it, but you can see some people internally struggle, literally changing the pronunciation in their head before saying it.

I can't imagine having a much more common name like Michelle with a different pronunciation. Must drive her crazy hearing it "wrong" all the time. I wonder if she just gives up with people she's never going to meet again, or if she's a stickler.
posted by madajb at 12:47 PM on October 24, 2011

I think she stepped down just in time, narrowly averting the great totebag scandal of 2011.

And I'm Sylvia Poggioli Ravioli.
posted by Sir Cholmondeley at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2011

Not to be too on topic here or anything, but this makes me wonder how often something like this happens. And of that, how often a woman is putting her career on hold for a man, vs a man for a woman.

If Robert Siegel's wife were a political advisor, would he be stepping down? (assuming he has one)
posted by SLC Mom at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

I think that this should be done by any network in any similar situation.

Me too. Assuming the judicial branch of the US government counts as a network.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:50 PM on October 24, 2011 [5 favorites]

Also, wouldn't have Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts (née Boggs) had a similar conflict?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:53 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh ah? How do you pronounce "Leezie"?

As a matter of fact, I pronounce it LEE-ZIE, which is the common French pronunciation my father attached to it during my childhood.
posted by Leezie at 1:04 PM on October 24, 2011

I can't imagine having a much more common name like Michelle with a different pronunciation. Must drive her crazy hearing it "wrong" all the time. I wonder if she just gives up with people she's never going to meet again, or if she's a stickler.

Well, if you rise to the top of the military ranks, win a ground war in the Middle East and go on to be Secretary of State, you too can have people pronounce your first name "CO-lin."
posted by BobbyVan at 1:09 PM on October 24, 2011

While we're criticizing NPR names, what's up with Jean Cockgrin and Deborah Anus? WTF NPR?
posted by found missing at 1:10 PM on October 24, 2011

NPR is where people with fucked-up names go to live, the textual version of "a face made for radio."
posted by rhizome at 1:25 PM on October 24, 2011

I hope you've all found your own NPR name.

(For what it's worth, Michele Norris has been really kind to me. And Steve Inskeep laughed when I sassed him on the air during the Royal Wedding. And Linda Wertheimer loves bloody television like True Blood, which I think is rad. Thus conclude my thoughts.)
posted by Linda_Holmes at 1:28 PM on October 24, 2011 [6 favorites]

NPR lost all relevancy a long time ago.

Maybe if you got out of Manhatten more.
posted by stbalbach at 1:29 PM on October 24, 2011

I think it might have been on metafilter where I learned how you figure out your NPR name: you add the first initial of your middle name to your first and then add the name of the smallest foreign town you've ever visited. For KQED News, I'm Meric Shivrampally.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 1:31 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Scooped!
posted by villanelles at dawn at 1:31 PM on October 24, 2011

I hope Peter Overby's wife goes to work for Obama.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:34 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

While I value the reportage done by NPR, they are best when they don't sacrifice quality before the altar of "objectivity", which is a bullshit political act trying to shield themselves from accountability.

Why try to be a "neutral" version of Fox news?

If you get two experts, one says that the Sky is yellow, and the other says it's red, and don't mention the obvious fact that it's blue... you're not doing anyone a service.

Far, far to many times I find them doing the equivalent to this. Presenting 2 different views is just a waste of time if there is no examination of the veracity of the claims.

We need reporters, not robotic opinion gatherers.

NPR has lots of value, don't get me wrong... but this one attribute of theirs is rapidly causing it go down towards zero.
posted by MikeWarot at 1:36 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Whenever I hear Robert Siegel I always think oh cool it's the guy who did the TV Funhouse cartoons!
posted by hypersloth at 1:39 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I had to stop listening to All Things Considered because Michelle Norris just grated on my nerves, particularly when she was pronouncing her name.

Sorry if her name isn't pronounced whitebread-middle-class-Amercun enough for you, Leezie (et al). Something you learn when you travel outside your own state: your dialect is not in fact Standard Correct English(tm).

Really, this comment, and others like it in this thread, are really little more than unapologetic, xenophobic bigotry. Bashing someone for daring to pronounce their name as their parents named them? And for that, you stop listening to a show?
posted by IAmBroom at 2:07 PM on October 24, 2011 [7 favorites]

I think the Phineas Gage part of my brain wants to react immediately with frustration: "Grow a pair!"

Then I remember today's political climate, especially the fact that anything within 10 feet of Obama is systematically attacked by the conservative machine, and I think, "Probably a good idea."

I really think NPR has solid reporting.
posted by glaucon at 2:09 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's not how she pronounces her name, nor her politics -- it's because she insists on smiling so much while reading the news (even unpleasant stories). My prayers have been answered!
posted by Rash at 2:36 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Or maybe that's Melissa Block. They should both join Susan Satmberg in retirement.
posted by Rash at 2:37 PM on October 24, 2011

Something you learn when you travel outside your own state: your dialect is not in fact Standard Correct English(tm).

Curious: is there any region of the US where the name "Michele" or "Michelle" is commonly pronounced as "Mee-shell" instead of "Mih-shell", or where the first syllable is routinely emphasized? I certainly can't think of any other non-francophone who uses that pronunciation.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:38 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Michele sees shells by the seashore.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:43 PM on October 24, 2011

If only the Supreme Court had this much honor.
posted by zzazazz at 2:45 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised by how much of this thread has been consumed with criticism of how a person pronounces her name. WTF?

I have every expectation that Michele Norris could do her job professionally and without undue bias under these circumstances, but I can also understand taking this step to avoid the utter shitstorm that would be brought by the Republicans if she were to stay in her position. That kind of fight only takes energy away from the mission of the organization.
posted by sriracha at 3:12 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

Really, this comment, and others like it in this thread, are really little more than unapologetic, xenophobic bigotry. Bashing someone for daring to pronounce their name as their parents named them? And for that, you stop listening to a show?

Whoa, partner!

Unapologetic, xenophobic bigotry? Really? If it makes you feel better, I also can't stand how Peter Overby pronounces his name.

Chill out.
posted by Leezie at 3:25 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised by how much of this thread has been consumed with criticism of how a person pronounces her name. WTF?

Perhaps it was the original title for the thread?
posted by Leezie at 3:26 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have always like her slighty stentorian delivery.

I recently had a loaner car with sat radio for a week. so I listened to the NPR Now channel a lot. uh, not to be a jerk, but WHAT in the world is up with Diane Rehm. not a radio voice..
posted by ninjew at 3:44 PM on October 24, 2011

She has spasmodic dysphonia, which is no laughing matter, but I did laugh very much at a tweet a while back from Kieran Healy that ran something like, "Now joining us from her watery grave, Diane Rehm."
posted by villanelles at dawn at 3:57 PM on October 24, 2011 [3 favorites]

See also: "Reporting from Los Angeles in perfect, unaccented English, this is [in heavy accent] Monda-LEE Del BaRRRRco."

It's actually really hard to mispronounce a language you know in the way a native speaker of another tongue would. As a hapless foreign exchange student, I found myself unconsciously and irrepressibly saying things like " Bonzheur. Zhe voodray oon packey duh LUCKY STRIKES." seriously, you cannot make yourself say sheek-en mcnooget.
posted by Diablevert at 4:09 PM on October 24, 2011 [11 favorites]

This is the right thing to do. It's not catering to the GOP, it's not a woman giving up her career for a man, it's the ethical thing to do by a high profile media person. Just because it's misunderstood doesn't make it wrong.
posted by girlmightlive at 4:46 PM on October 24, 2011

> It's irritating, though I'm never quite sure if I should correct people or just let it go.

Let it go. Model patience and tolerance for your daughter. I had the same thing happen as a kid all the time and it wasn't a big deal to me.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:00 PM on October 24, 2011

Oh god this head has got Liza With A Z stuck in my head.
posted by The Whelk at 5:24 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Well, its not like she's a Supreme Court Justice whose spouse is a conservative lobbyist or something...
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2011

Diane Rehm is the absolute bomb. Give her voice a chance; after a while, like certain peppers, you start to crave it. Also, when she smacks down the occasional guest or reporter, that voice sends chills through you.

Also, I have a huge crush on Robert Siegel. I would enjoy being his pet, just to hear the sound of his voice saying mundane things.

Also, I love Michelle Norris and will miss her.

NPR, like the BBC and the NYT, sometimes fucks up, but like the BBC and the NYT, they strive to be a credible, accountable source of news.
posted by angrycat at 5:51 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

A pox on the entire operation. It has become a pure lifestyle network, giving its audience the illusion that they are better informed than average.
posted by spitbull at 6:08 PM on October 24, 2011

I hope you've all found your own NPR name.

Holy shit this is amazing! I'm: Gbob Aix-de-Provence
posted by Blasdelb at 6:15 PM on October 24, 2011

Gbob... I'm going to start calling myself that from now on
posted by Blasdelb at 6:16 PM on October 24, 2011

I stopped listening to NPR after discovering Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time podcasts. They're all available now on iTunes, 11 years' worth. The gap between IOT and NPR, in terms of intellectual engagement and sheer entertainment, is vast.
posted by stargell at 6:17 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

What's really not cool is that I can't remember how to pronounce my own NPR name.
posted by theredpen at 6:25 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Let it go. Model patience and tolerance for your daughter. I had the same thing happen as a kid all the time and it wasn't a big deal to me.

Yeah, that's what I've been doing. I figure it's going to be something she's gonna have to get used to in her life.*

Though, I will admit to using the "proper" pronunciation in the next couple of sentences after someone does it wrong. Just coincidentally, of course. heh.


* We had 3 rules for naming our child. The name we ended up with failed all 3.
posted by madajb at 7:00 PM on October 24, 2011

I always love it when Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports from "Dah-kaaaarrrrrr".
posted by bpm140 at 7:14 PM on October 24, 2011

So what do couples like James Carville and Mary Matalin do?
posted by GeckoDundee at 7:24 PM on October 24, 2011

Passive-aggressively mispronounce each other's names.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:25 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

I always love it when Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports from "Dah-kaaaarrrrrr"

Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes.
posted by Leezie at 7:33 PM on October 24, 2011

How have we gotten this far and no one's mentioned Sylvia Poggiooooolli.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2011

I thought it was Nichelle until right this very minute.

Back on the main topic, when I was in college I was in a small group that got to meet an NYTimes political reporter after she gave a speech, and we were having a wide-ranging and passionate discussion of politics and media, so I asked her for whom she had voted in the last election. She literally blanched and said, in a sort-of strangled tone, that it was a firing offense for her to discuss for whom she had voted.

The man who held the post of executive editor at the Washington Post for 17 years fairly famously (and ostentatiously, it was thought in some circles) did not vote.

Q. Is it true you don’t vote? Do you ask your staff to do the same?

A. I have not voted since becoming managing editor in 1984 because, as the final gatekeeper for all coverage in the Post, I do not want to make up my mind, even in the voting booth, about candidates or issues. I would be pleased if none of our political reporters or editors voted, but it would be unreasonable to ask for that (and I remain the final gatekeeper for all they do). We prohibit all staff members from engaging in any political activity except voting.

Anyway, I think this is probably a fairly good practice for high-quality news organizations, despite obvious and complex questions about "objectivity" in journalism. Avoiding even the appearance of impropriety and all that ...
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:26 PM on October 24, 2011

Unfortunately, yes, if you marry a politician, it may hamper or kill your career. Connie Schultz has a freaking Pulitzer and had to quit her job recently for the same reason, and there's also Maria Shriver. It's kinda like marrying someone in the military: either one ruins your career prospects.

I don't think I could marry someone whose job would tank mine like that, so I guess it's true love. Still kinda sucks, though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:31 PM on October 24, 2011

Anyway, I think this is probably a fairly good practice for high-quality news organizations, despite obvious and complex questions about "objectivity" in journalism

I much prefer the Economist model of being open about one's opinions; too often everything else of value is sacrificed on the altar of objectivity and you end up with the kind of shenanigans that James Fallows has been complaining about recently.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:35 PM on October 24, 2011

How have we gotten this far and no one's mentioned Sylvia Poggiooooolli.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 9:37 PM on October 24

I think she stepped down just in time, narrowly averting the great totebag scandal of 2011.
And I'm Sylvia Poggioli Ravioli.
posted by Sir Cholmondeley at 2:48 PM on October 24

there you go.
posted by ninjew at 9:24 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'll go sit in the corner.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 9:28 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Andrea Mitchell has been one of the lead political reporters for NBC while married to Alan Greenspan since 1997.
posted by dglynn at 10:00 PM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

When the Vatican response to the Catholic sex abuse scandal was frequently in the news, I found it darkly comic how Sylvia Poggioli would pop out of her American accent to say "pedophilia" with sing-song Italian prosody.
posted by gngstrMNKY at 2:14 AM on October 25, 2011

I have never been sure whether it was Nichelle or Michelle. And plenty of other NPR reporters' names were mysteries to me. But I promptly forget that curiousity when I heard the velvet voice of Jacki Lyden (who I would happily listen to recite a list of world capitals, or the 250 largest cities in America, or the first thousand digits of pi. *sigh*).

I hope you've all found your own NPR name.
Dwill Epping? Wait... Willidam Slough? Willld Füssen? I think I might have to pick up an atlas and pick an accent before I decide.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:20 AM on October 25, 2011

A few weeks ago I heard one NPR anchor call Lourdes Garcia-Navarro (reporting from Baghdad or Jerusalem or Libya or something) the diminutive "Lu-Lu," and I burst out laughing as the poor woman's credibility went all hissing out.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:23 AM on October 25, 2011

Whoa, partner!

I'm not your partner.

Unapologetic, xenophobic bigotry? Really? If it makes you feel better, I also can't stand how Peter Overby pronounces his name.

Nope, hearing that you're even more bigoted and hateful somehow doesn't make anything better, Leezie.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:10 AM on October 25, 2011

...but it still isn't xenophobic. More or less by definition you can only be xenophobic about that which is xeno. And Minnesota ain't xeno, not by a long stretch.
I should know, neh?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:34 AM on October 25, 2011

Curious: is there any region of the US where the name "Michele" or "Michelle" is commonly pronounced as "Mee-shell" instead of "Mih-shell", or where the first syllable is routinely emphasized? I certainly can't think of any other non-francophone who uses that pronunciation.

Why yes. Many people in the region where I live pronounce it that way (including my mother), and (not surprisingly) around half the people here (natives, anyway) are two or fewer generations removed from a francophonic ancestor.
posted by GodricVT at 11:19 AM on October 25, 2011