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Arlie Sommer, 2022

Arlie Sommer

Producer, Expressive Idaho

It was love at first listen when I first heard Ira Glass on This American Life. The program inspired me to study environmental journalism at the University of Idaho so I could tell stories that would also change lives. I officially started my radio career as a KUOI college DJ there and went on to work for the local public radio station, Northwest Public Radio, archiving reel to reel, writing for web and hosting.

In Portland, OR I worked for Oregon Public Broadcasting. With a passion for context and collaboration, I also collected oral histories through the Boise Voices Oral History project and Elliot Oral Histories.

In 2012, I returned to my home state and community radio beginnings, volunteering for Radio Boise. I DJed a show that featured electronic, ambient and minimal music, called Sleepwalker. You can listen to the archives here.

I’m the recipient of City of Boise Arts & History grants for my audio-photo-poetic documentary projects Making Mortzilla and The Boise Food History Project.

What a privilege and delight it is to produce Expressive Idaho for Boise State Public Radio – a show about traditionally rooted Idaho Artists. The series, now in its fourth season, has taken me all over the state, into niches and places I might not otherwise have explored.