Another local voice has joined the growing network of hosts offering regular Catholic radio programming.
Debbie Georgianni is finishing her third week of co-hosting “Take 2 with Jerry and Debbie,” a live call-in show that takes a fresh look at personal, spiritual and cultural issues all through a Catholic lens that draws on life experiences, solid theology and a lively conversation. The show airs weekdays on the EWTN radio network, Sirius 130 and the IHeartRadio app with podcasts archived online at take2show.com.
[quote_box_right]
Take 2 with Jerry and Debbie
What: A live call-in show taking a fresh look at personal, spiritual and cultural issues
When: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. Pacific Time
Where: EWTN.com/radio, Sirius 130 and the iHeartRadio app with archives online
Info: take2show.com
[/quote_box_right]
“Take 2” joins Radio Family Rosary and two Spanish programs on Radio En Familia in offering weekday Catholic programming that features a local voice. “Take 2” launched as a Monday-Friday show June 15 with co-hosts working from their respective home states.
Georgianni is a parishioner at Christ the King in Mesa and community relations representative for Immaculate Heart Radio in Phoenix. It was the latter role that ultimately connected her with radio veteran, Jerry Usher, who co-hosts “Take 2” from Cathedral City in California.
The show invites listeners and its hosts to look again at themselves and the world around them. So far, the show has addressed topics such as anxiety, fatherhood, being “green” in light of the pope’s encyclical, guilt, “divine disruptions” and youth homelessness.
“It’s like a peer ministry where we’re really locking arms,” Georgianni said. “If it makes one soul grow closer to God, then we’ve done our job.”
The goal is to keep a conversation going while live on the air and continue it via social media. Usher sees “Take 2” as a way to help listeners emerge from the brokenness that can hinder them from reaching their “God-ordained potential.”
“We want to cover topics every day that reach people, take a fresh look at life, who they are, who they were made to be and the world around them,” Usher said, “We all come from different places and that includes wounds and traumas.”
Their program, via in-depth discussion on life experiences and Church teaching, aims to help listeners move beyond the trauma to discover authentic peace. Both co-hosts were impressed with the feedback and support they received following the first week on air. For a new call-in show, there was never any difficulty in filling up the lines and calls have come from across the U.S. plus up to a dozen international countries.
Georgianni regretted they could not address every caller within the hour. Both co-hosts commented on the ease of dialogue with listeners.
“I almost felt like they were having a conversation in my living room,” Georgianni said. “We’re just coming from our hearts, from our experiences and people are relating to that.”
The “realness” of listeners and what they’re comfortable sharing impressed Usher.
“There’s a freshness about this show, a realness that people connect with,” he said.
They’ve already received requests to do a live, in-person show.
“I love watching people grow closer to God. In Catholic radio, we hear it every day,” Georgianni said.
“Take 2 with Jerry and Debbie” is just part of a deepening pool of Catholic radio programming that features a local voice. One other local Spanish program and two in English — “The Bishop’s Hour” and “The Catholic Conversation” on Immaculate Heart Radio — provide Catholic content for radio on a weekly basis.
