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Photo Courtesy of Jody Avirgan and Ask Roulette
She/He Loves DC is a series highlighting the people who love this city just as much as we do.
Jody Avirgan likes questions more than answers. As a result of that, he is now the host of a unique conversation series called Ask Roulette. The live show encourages strangers to ask each others questions on stage. And, for the first time, the New York based show is coming to DC. The show is scheduled for Friday, August 9 at Politics and Prose with special guests Clinton Yates on The Washington Post, Dave Weigel of Slate, and Linda Holmes of NPR’s Monkey See.
According to Avirgan, “Ask Roulette is a little hard to envision but the crux of it is that audience members show up with a question they want to ask a stranger. All the questions get put in a box then randomly selected. When you come on stage, you answer a question from a stranger, then turn around and ask a stranger your question. There are also special guests at each event. Questions are long, short, serious, silly, whatever. Any question goes. And of course you can just watch.”
When Avirgan’s not spending time on Ask Roulette, he works as a producer for NPR’s New York station WNYC radio. But not so long ago, Avirgan grew up in DC.
What is it about DC that makes it home to you?
Well, my parents are there, still living in the same house, so there are inherent memories of home tied up with any time I come back. But I really do like the fact that, to most Americans, DC is an abstraction — a company town filled with hired political guns. The disconnect between that vision and the DC I know – one full of real people and everyday pleasures, makes it that much more special. It’s like we’re all in on a secret together.