This article appears in the May 2011 issue of Louisville Magazine. To subscribe, please visit loumag.com.
21 Questions with Gabe Bullard, 25-year-old Louisville Public Media news director and Cherokee Triangle resident
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I work with the sharp reporters at WFPL to find and pursue stories — and report some myself, when I can — then edit the stories before they go on air and online.
You work in radio. Do you still get recognized by strangers in public?
There’s a picture of me on the WFPL website and on the local blog the ’Ville Voice, which has led to a few recognitions. Someone once said they recognized my voice, but I don’t know about that.
What’s the most interesting public radio fund-raising tactic you’ve come across?
Ira Glass records messages for stations to play each year. His spots from last year with Alec Baldwin were very funny. Our producer Laura and I always play “Yakkety Sax” on the last day of the drive to boost pledges, too.
Earliest childhood memory?
Watching Desert Storm coverage on TV and reading National Geographic with my dad (it was an issue about fossils).
Your drink?
I consult a clock and a thermometer and decide between coffee, an old fashioned or a martini with gin and olives.
Best bar in town?
I can’t say the Back Door, but I can’t not say the Back Door, you know?
Best book you’ve read over the past year?
Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work!, by DouglasCoupland.
Can’t-miss TV show?
Parks and Recreation and Breaking Bad.
Favorite Kentucky Derby winner?
Ferdinand (1986) had such a strange life and death after the race.
Public or private school?
I went to public school. It wasn’t so bad.
Biggest guilty pleasure in town?
Again, I can’t say the Back Door, but I can’t not say the Back Door.
Fleur-de-Lis: had enough or can’t get enough?
I like seeing the fleur-de-lis in unexpected places: on top of an iron fence post or in a garden decoration.
Benedictine?
The spread is tasty, the liqueur is good and the monks seem friendly.
Bardstown Road, Frankfort Avenue or Market Street?
I live closest to Bardstown road, so I’m on it most often. Lately, though, I’ve been favoring the restaurants on Market Street.
Last live performance you saw in town?
Guided by Voices at Headliners.
Where do you take out-of-town guests?
We walk a lot. I like to go through Cave Hill Cemetery in the morning, downtown from the Slugger factory to 21c to Waterfront Park in the afternoon, then down Bardstown Road in the evening.
The most you ever lost on a horse race?
$6. I said the wrong horse number when I bought my ticket.
Favorite possession?
A camera or something with a camera in it, though I’m not a very good photographer.
If forced to get a tattoo today, what would you get?
If forced? I’d probably get “I didn’t want this” on my arm.
If Actors Theatre did a production about your life, what would the performance be called?
Raging Bullard.
What makes somebody a Louisvillian?
It has to be more than three years of residency. I’m still told I’m not aLouisvillian.
