The New Age Hit Machine
How a PBS pledge drive turned Yanni and John Tesh into rock stars.
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Episode Notes
For this episode, a story from Slate senior producer Evan Chung about how Yanni, John Tesh and a number of other surprising acts made it big in the 1990s. It’s a throwback to a simpler time— when musicians struggled to find their big break, but discovered it was possible with a telephone, a television, and our undivided attention.
This story originally aired in 2019 on Studio 360 from PRX.
We hear from George Veras, Pat Callahan, and John Tesh.
This episode was written and produced by Slate’s Evan Chung. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. Derek John is Slate’s Executive Producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
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