10 Questions with ... Anthony Mazzarelli

NAME:Anthony Mazzarelli TITLE:Talk Host STATION:WPHT MARKET:Philadelphia COMPANY:CBS Radio BORN:Philadelphia RAISED:Philadelphia/New Jersey

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Weekdays 6p-9p on 1210 WPHT since November 2007.

1. You're a doctor and a lawyer, and have a master's in bioethics for good measure. How did you manage to add radio to all that -- what drew you to radio?

You're not going to believe this, but when I was in school I had never heard any talk radio. I had to satisfy my public service requirement for law school, and a professor in the medical school told me about an alumnus of my law school that was on The Big Talker 1210 WPHT in the afternoons, Michael Smerconish (now the morning show host at WPHT). I listened to Michael a few times and then sent him an email asking if I could help research topics for the show. Before I knew it, I was spending more and more time helping Michael and, before long, forming my own take on the issues. I was a few years into my residency in Emergency Medicine when the program director, Grace Blazer (now the program director at WTKK), gave me a chance to have my own show on the weekend. I was given the opportunity to go to weekdays just as I took my first job in the Emergency Department after my residency. Since ERs are open 24 hours a day, it wasn't too hard to make the schedule for both careers work.

2. About what are you most passionate these days?

The city of Camden, NJ. It is one of the poorest, most dangerous cities in the country and it is directly next to Philadelphia. I've been involved with the community since I was a medical student and lived there during my residency. It's the community I serve in my medical practice.

3. In what way, if any, do your various other pursuits inform the way you host talk radio shows? Does, say, being a bioethicist or an emergency room physician make a difference in the topics you choose and the way you approach them?

While the show covers the entire range of topics, there is no doubt that I bring to the show experiences from what I see in the Emergency Department and from the world of bioethics. I also think my background shapes the way I approach issue. I approach issues like I do patients. I try to define the problem, think about the possible causes, consider all the treatment options, and then apply the treatment that seems best for the situation. I prefer to base my opinions on data and logic rather than ideology and partisanship. The results are solutions that sometimes lean left and sometimes lean right.

4. How do you approach time management -- how do you find the time to do everything you do on a daily basis?

I'm one of those annoying people always on my Blackberry so I can keep my calendar and messages organized. I also have great bosses that see value in the fact that I have multiple careers so they are flexible in helping me do everything. Also, it helps that I'm not much of a sleeper.

5. Who would you call your role models, in law, in medicine, in radio, and in life?

My role model in radio is Michael Smerconish -- no one is better prepared or more committed to presenting both sides of an issue. There is no one in the country as entertaining or innovative.

With respect to bioethics, I have had the pleasure to study under Dr. Arthur Caplan, the nation's leading bioethicist, and he continues to be a key mentor to me.

In medicine, I hope some day to have half the clinical acumen and leadership skills of Dr. Michael Chansky.

My role model in life is my father. He is genuine, generous, funny, easygoing, honest and would do anything for his family. He is also an example that the key to a career is not the job where you can retire early, but the job that you love so much you don't want to retire at all.

6. Of what are you most proud?

My family. I've been named a godfather three times in the last 4 months and I have a wife that completely supports all of my crazy endeavors. Also, I am very proud of the fact that I have my own evening talk radio show on the same station where I started as an intern.

7. Assuming you have any time for it, what do you do for fun?

My wife and I love watching movies. We are total movie and TV geeks.

8. You talk about a huge range of topics; what's your favorite area of discussion? You're relaxing, you're not working -- what do you like most to talk about?

My favorite issues are the ones that don't cut along liberal/conservative lines, but force people to think. I like making people really concentrate on an issue rather than just defaulting to the soundbyte of a particular philosophy. Those are the issues that make people talk at the water cooler and the dinner table.

Perhaps the reason I really love radio is because there is no difference between what I talk about when I am relaxing compared to when I am working. If it is interesting enough to spark discussion with my family, friends, and co-workers, then I know it will work on the radio. Life is both serious and fun, and what I like to talk about on the air is a mixture of the two.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ____.

...coffee and my laptop.

10. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? The worst?

The best advice I ever received is that the harder you work the luckier you will get.

I think the worst advice I've received is that I should yell and scream at callers and then intentionally say things that are controversial. That's just not my style.