Close-up Stainless knob and latch on blue door with copy space.

Spend a few minutes talking to programmers and air talent about their radio show, and it’s usually not long until someone asks about topics and content. Everyone is looking for a silver bullet, a perfect topic that attracts listeners. This mythical topic is so relevant it can’t possibly miss the target. But that’s misplaced emphasis. Great radio segments can be about anything, even a doorknob.

This article includes a lesson I learned from a talk show host who performed an entire four-hour radio show about a doorknob. Including: 

  • A valuable lesson about how to mine a topic for stories.
  • The process behind the art-building a topic tree. 
  • Problems that can occur, and how to avoid them.

A Four-Hour Radio Show About A Doorknob?