GABE HUDSON RADIO
Gabe Hudson passed away on November 23rd, 2023, from complications of diabetes and kidney disease.
In late 2022, early 2023, Gabe and I started making plans on relaunching his podcast. During one of our weekly conversations, he asked me to be his executive producer, help him record and cut the show together, so we brainstormed what the new show would sound like. He wanted to change the name from Twitterverse to something that didn’t derive its identity from a social platform. He had fostered a community on twitter, but didn’t like what twitter had become.
Every week, he would invent a new name for the show. The Timeline. The Chat. The Chat with Gabe Hudson. VERY ONLINE with Gabe Hudson. WORDS TO LIVE BY with Gabe Hudson. And with every new show name he liked, he would create a graphic.
He would call and text me at all hours of the day, mostly at night, when people are normally asleep. I used to think my brain was more active than anyone’s at night, before I met Gabe. When he got obsessed, he could talk for hours. Part of me wishes I had never drawn a boundary, that I would never ask him to warn me before calling, that I wouldn’t place a time limit on our talks.
I told him the show name should embody what drives him, what gets him excited about the craft, where he draws his energy from. That final name (which I eventually had to talk him into keeping, even after the official relaunch, because he could have talked himself into renaming the show every month) was Kurt Vonnegut Radio.
The show would have no music, just a single intro sound effect that I had created in an afternoon, a radio tuning through stations. It was fun and easy to make, but Gabe made a point to thank me many times.
The inaugural recording was with his friend and fellow author, Andrew Leland. The recording ran way over time, almost an hour past what Gabe had promised (not the last time this would happen), and Gabe apologized to me profusely. He was getting lost in the conversations with his guests, swept up in every twist or turn they could take. When the recordings were finished, he seemed exhausted but thrilled for having done it. Soon after he would text me a list of possible next guests, who could be fun to talk to, what topics they could cover, who I thought would be fun to hear in a way that no one had heard them before.
Some of my favorite episodes of Gabe’s were his solo ones, where it’s just him talking into the void. Like the Sinead O’Connor tribute. I told him he reminded me of Spalding Gray.
The name “Kurt Vonnegut Radio” came from a place of love for the craft. Gabe was a teacher to many, but in conversation he enjoyed becoming the student. He admired when people spoke their truth. He also advised not to take things too hard, not to give up, and to stick to passion in light of heavy loss.
His health was not great, but he didn’t know it. All he needed was a single doctor’s visit and the show could have continued for years. What we have now is a record of a show in the making, a clear idea of what was to come, what Gabe was growing into.
It has taken me longer than I wanted it to, but I’ve published an audio memorial to the show’s feed. It’s a gathering of colleagues, friends, and family, affectionately titled, “Gabe Hudson Radio”.
Thank you to the following people who made this possible:
Mary Bergman, Maureen Clarke, Lola Deneault, Hank Deneault, Erica George, Alena Graedon, Gabrielle Griffis, Andrew Leland, Julia Madsen, Sanchia Semere, Peter Semere, Akhil Sharma, Gary Shteyngart, Deborah Treisman, Jackie Welham.
At the request of Gabe’s family, if you are not feeling well, please make a doctor’s visit. Do a basic checkup. Take care of your body. Even if you feel you cannot afford it, please make your health a priority. It could be the choice that gives you more time with the people who love you.
And in the words of Gabe, “Peace.”