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Speaking Personally

Speaking Personally

By: AZPM
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Candid conversations with the people shaping Arizona and beyond. We’ll dive beneath the surface to explore who they are, what drives them, and the paths that led them here. Speaking Personally is recorded on location at the Paul and Alice Baker Center for Public Media in Tucson Arizona.©2026 AZPM Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • James Reel - AZPM's Classical 90.5 Music Director

    James Reel - AZPM's Classical 90.5 Music Director
    May 21 2026
    Fans of classical music in Southern Arizona are no strangers to James Reel's voice, but we get to know him on a deeper level in this episode. From humble beginnings in Yuma, Arizona, Reel has become an important figure in Tucson's artistic community, leading multiple organizations such as Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Tucson Pops and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra over years. In conversation with Tom McNamara, Reel discusses developing his own passions without much guidance, the evolution of Tucson's cultural offerings, and why he thinks more people should listen to classical music.
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    29 mins
  • Marc Shaiman - Composer, Lyricist and Author

    Marc Shaiman - Composer, Lyricist and Author
    May 12 2026
    Marc Shaiman is a Grammy, Emmy, Tony and BAFTA-award winning composer and lyricist who has also been nominated for seven Oscars - so far. If you've seen a movie since the late 1980s, there is a good chance you have heard his work. He recently sat down with AZPM's Mark McLemore to discuss his long-serving friendship and career with Bette Midler, the more than 20 projects he worked on with his close friend Rob Reiner, scoring The Addams Family films, and why he doesn't rewatch the South Park movie. Shaiman recently slowed down long enough to write a memoir called "Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner".
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    29 mins
  • Leslie Tolbert Ph.D. Dept. of Neuroscience University of Arizona

    Leslie Tolbert Ph.D. Dept. of Neuroscience University of Arizona
    May 5 2026
    Leslie Tolbert spent most of her career studying neuroscience and the mysteries of the brain, which makes her frank discussion about a recent Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis all the more interesting. Tolbert received her Ph.D. in Anatomy from Harvard in 1978; in 1987 she arrived at the University of Arizona where she has held several positions including Professor, Acting Director of the Arizona Research Laboratories, Senior Vice President for Research and Regents’ Professor, among others. In this discussion Tolbert tells Tom McNamara how being exposed to different cultures at a young age expanded her mind, how she fell in love with the brain and her husband at the same time, and how after years of studying there is still so much to learn about the human brain.
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    29 mins
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