Profile

NAME: Beth Watkins

LIKENESS: Janeane Garofalo

DETAILS:

Beth's affinity for radio was something she more gravitated towards, than aimed for. If anything, she doubted it was something her vocal tones were suitable for, given her acidic wit and dislike of having to comply with lists of verbal dos-and-don'ts. If something is annoying her - and it usually is - she's the type of person to need a safety valve to bitch about it (albeit, with humour).

It was helping out a friend's slot at a local station which got her into that side of things. Beth looked at it as more of a behind-the-scenes favour than anything else, but had to take over at short notice to read a couple of news announcements, weather reports and the like. Then had to cover for her friend, in turn, when personal business called him away.

There wasn't much in the news and she remembered the relaxed vibe of Art Bell's show. The subject matter of which being something which tended to spark her curiosity. So, Beth opened up the lines and asked if anyone had a ghost, UFO or lake monster story they wanted to share. The producer was out of the building, so... Why not, right?

What really caught the attention of listeners was one of the early callers, intellectual and pretentious, who phoned in specifically to mock a couple of the testimonies before him. He was not, however, prepared for Beth to let rip and effectively stump his assumptive 'it's-all-swamp-gas-and-mass-hysteria' mindset.

While a satisfying experience, the result also turned out to be entertaining radio. Beth assumed she was going to be chewed out for it when the producer returned, but to her surprise, she was offered employment.

Some time later and it's a continued format which has proven successful: Exploring news of the unexplained with a suffer-no-fools attitude (on-air, at least) and being as unafraid to ridicule other media personalities who share similar subject matter, as well as the new generation of James Randi-alikes. Follows politics, but has a disdain for both mainstream parties.

For all that, since moving to Boston, Beth doesn't have the widest of social circles (the acerbic reputation doesn't help) and, although starting to get invited to speak at UFO conferences and such, prefers not to take the offers up, largely due to the in-fighting which sometimes goes on between certain researchers.