Steve Haruch (he/him) is the newest member of WPLN News. As the senior producer of This Is Nashville, Steve is responsible for planning the show, booking guests and seeking out conversations that deepen our understanding of the city. Get to know him.
1. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A soldier, a Jedi knight, a professional baseball player or an artist, not necessarily in that order.
2. What made you want to work for WPLN News and This Is Nashville?
I am a longtime listener, first-time employee, so I already knew coming in that this station does great work. I’ve also done some freelancing for the station in the past, which gave me a sense of the newsroom culture. So when I heard about a new daily show and saw the station really committing to it, that was really exciting. Talking with Andrea and Khalil really sealed the deal for me because all I could think was, “Wow, I really want to work with these people.”
3. What can listeners expect you to do at WPLN News in the next year?
Listeners can expect me to help bring a diverse slate of guests onto the show — not just the usual suspects, but folks from the community, folks we don’t always get to hear from in the news. I’ll also be working with my fellow producers on stories we’ll be collecting from around Nashville and collaborating with the newsroom as well. You may not necessarily hear my voice on the air, but I’ll be behind the scenes and out talking with people and recording as much as possible.
4. Where else have you lived besides Middle Tennessee?
I was born in Korea, though I have no memory of it, and grew up just outside Chicago. (People of a certain age may remember the sculpture made of cars impaled on a giant nail that appears in the movie Wayne’s World. That’s about 2 miles from my childhood home.) I went to college in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, not knowing that someday one Emily Siner would also live in the same dorm. (Shout out Allen Hall.) I also lived in Seattle, where I studied the dark art of poetry and later taught English at a hagwon, before moving to Nashville.
5: What’s your go-to karaoke song? (Not that we’d ever make you sing it.)
It used to be “Welcome to the Jungle,” but I don’t think my voice can handle that anymore. Some might say my voice could never handle it, but I’ll go with the most Asian American answer possible: “Bizarre Love Triangle.”
BONUS: Where is your dream vacation?
There are so many, but New Zealand is high on the list.
Follow-up question: what makes New Zealand high on your dream vacation list?
It’s a combination of the majestic natural landscape and the national approach to the pandemic.
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