Case Study: AIR: The Restless Shaper of the World by William Bryant Logan

Client: William Bryant Logan

A person takes 30,000 breaths in a day. The air carries the scents that lead lovers and predators to find one another. Yet, what do we really know about air? How do birds fly and why do they often fly in v formation? How do tornados form? How far can winds carry dust? Why is weather so difficult to predict? What is the impact of poisonous gases that may come from our cozy, new furniture? What are lennies and roll clouds and why are they red flags for pilots? How does pollen help palynologists establish the rhythm of the ice ages?

William Bryant Logan considers these questions – and many others that you never thought to ask – in this third volume of the elemental trilogy that began with Dirt (inspired the award-winning documentary Dirt! The Movie) and continued with Oak. From discussions with scientists such as Kerry Emanuel (weather) and Thomas Eisner (pheromones) to a world champion hang glider’s exhilarating account of the unexpected disasters she encountered hitting a spill point of a thermal, AIR: The Restless Shaper of the World (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.; August 20, 2012) explores this most adventurous and communicative of elements from every angle.

Opportunities / Challenges:
Air is a broad topic and we had to whittle down the subject matter, highlighting the unique, eye-opening and fun facts from Bryant’s book while telling his story as well as making the topic accessible for everyone, not just science buffs.  NPR is selective and these stations receive numerous pitches daily so our pitch had to stand out with information that listeners would be interested in.

Media Goals:
Local NPR, environmental and science-focused shows and ranked News/Talk stations in top markets.

Highlights include:

• WNYC-AM “The Leonard Lopate Show”
• Wisconsin Public Radio – “Conversations with Larry Meiller”
• Sirius XM – “Cover to Cover”
• The Jim Bohannon Show
• WLRN-FM – NPR in Miami, FL
• WFAE-FM – NPR in Charlotte, NC
• WJCT-FM – NPR in Jacksonville, FL
• KPCW-FM – NPR in Park City, UT
• KTOK-AM - #1 News/Talk in Oklahoma City
• WMJI-FM - #1 Classic Hits in Cleveland, OH
• KRLD-AM - #2 News/Talk in Dallas, TX
• WHAM-AM - #1 Talk in Rochester, NY