Jesse Thorn is on a quest — to move his podcast, The Sound of Young America, off iPods and onto radios. To that end KXOT 91.7 (which is now owned by KUOW, in case you weren’t paying attention) is giving the show a four week trial in their Sunday noon slot. (And that was starting last week… and I was going to remind you of that. Sorry.) Of course, KXOT’s signal isn’t all that strong, but he’s hopeful that you’ll roll out of bed and flip on your radio.

The Sound of Young America is a mix of comedy, interview, and the 18-25 age group. (It just hurts a little when someone says “I was listening to This American Life at 16″ knowing that you were out of college and starting your career when the show debuted.) It’s been a popular podcast on iTunes, and has been featured on other lightbulb-powered NPR stations around the country.

Jesse, for all his radio experience, lacked the wisdom that comes with age to know not to submit to my interview. But yet he persevered, talking about the future of radio, overcoming the Seattle Freeze, and his plan for the viaduct.

You’re on KXOT (for four weeks) and think it’s a big thing, but you do know that KXOT is, well, underpowered? I can’t pick it up clearly even in the U District… where KXOT’s studio is located.

The short answer is that I’m on a station in San Francisco that you can’t even hear on the whole San Francisco State University campus, so I’m not really sweating it. I do my show in my living room. I’m grateful whenever any gate keeper lets me through.

The longer answer is that I think it’s pretty wonderful that KUOW/KXOT are expanding the pallette of public radio a bit. Here in Los Angeles, the two big public radio stations often run the same programming at the same time. It was the same in my hometown of San Francisco. Where’s the public service in that? If there’s two stations in a market, using one to broadcast the “big boys” like All Things Considered and Car Talk, and the other to broadcast “edgier” fare is a wonderful idea.

I think KUOW & KXOT are on the forefront of the idea that a public radio station is about more than just a radio signal — it’s about an idea and a community — so in the long-term, signal strength will pale in comparison to identity and meaningfullness to listeners. When Seattle is blanketed by Wi-Fi in five or ten years, folks won’t listen to KUOW or KXOT because of their signal, they’ll listen because the stations mean something to them.

You have to understand, though — KXOT is KUOW’s dumping ground. It’s where the geeky and wonky shows have been dumped (Science Friday, Terry Gross) so they can add another local call-in show about the viaduct. So, you geeky, or wonky?

Hey, Terry Gross’ Fresh Air is one of the most listened-to public radio shows in the country, and she’s a genius at what she does (and a real hero to me), so I’m pretty honored to be dumped with her. Seriously, a year ago I was driving an hour and a half from San Francisco to Santa Cruz every week to do this show on my college radio station, even though I’d graduated from college two years previous. I had a full-time job and had to secretly book guests while I was supposed to be working. Going from that to sharing the air with Diane Rehm and Terry Gross and those kinds of folks feels like a dream come true, and I mean that sincerely.

That said, I am a little geeky. Why else would I be a podcaster?

Seattleites are notoriously cool to newcomers, polite and friendly but distant and not willing to engage with you. What are you going to do the next four weeks to overcome the “Seattle Freeze?”

I perform with a sketch comedy group called Prank the Dean, and last year, we came up to Seattle for Seattle Sketchfest. A few Seattleites who didn’t know us at all let us sleep in their backyard garage, which had been converted into a speakeasy-cum-underground-theater. It was freezing, and a little creepy, and there wasn’t a bathroom, but still — pretty nice of them. I’m hoping for some more of that.

And hey, how about this… anybody who emails me their address (jesse@maximumfun.org) gets free stickers in the mail. Will that help?

You interviewed Jackson Publick (creator of the Venture Bros.) and Neil Pollack (Alternadad) recently. Better drug-addled father — Pollack or Thaddeus Venture?

One of the interesting things about Neal’s book is how being a father seems to have genuinely changed him. The book is funny, but it’s also genuinely sweet. So I’d have to say Neal. But neither of them can hold a candle to those Venture boys’ real father — Patrick Warburton as Brock Samson. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to have Patrick Warburton as your father figure?

“Yeeeeeahp. Do your homework, son.”

Who were your radio idols growing up?

As a kid, I’d say Hank Greenwald, who used to call Giants games on the radio. Great baseball radio announcers are really something special — they’re humane and funny and kind of like a good friend. Vin Scully is like that, too, as much as I hate the Dodgers. When Greenwald left, I was so sad, but he was replaced by Jon Miller, who’s the best in the business.

A little later in my life, starting around age 16, Ira Glass and the whole team behind This American Life. They had the courage to create something completely new in the face of huge opposition (and a lot of indifference) in public radio, and it worked. My show is completely unlike that show, but also completely inspired by it. Glass had been working for NPR for something like 20 years, and they turned him down cold twice. Once after he had full funding and a Peabody. They just didn’t like it. So he went over to Public Radio International, and now that show has two million listeners a week.

As podcasting and Internet radio become more popular, is broadcast radio becoming irrelevant?

Less relevant, certainly. Not irrelevant.

The average American has something like six or eight radios. Literally everyone uses them, and knows how to use them. They are totally ubiquitous — something that is very, very rare. Books are not totally ubiquitous. Neither is cable TV. Not even microwaves. So there’s a huge built-in power there. When there’s an emergency, people turn on their radios. When there’s breaking news, people turn on their radios.

That said, we’re moving into a media world where people can choose what they want to consume. Repackaging others’ content (like music radio stations do) is quickly becoming a losing game. Personally, I make The Sound of Young America for people who love it — and if those people get it from the podcast, or from the radio, or on their cell phones, I don’t care. That passion-driven model is the future of media.

Mariners 2007: How bad will this year suck?

No matter how bad it gets, you still have Ichiro, who is undoubtedly the most exciting player in baseball. The only player I’ve ever seen who’s as fun to watch as Ichiro is Rickey Henderson, and that’s a pretty high standard. I have to say, though, that outside Seattle, your rep is as a fair-weather fanbase… so I’d like to see those Mariners signs all over town even when you’re not locked in a battle for the AL West title.

Finally, what’s your preference for the Alaskan Way Viaduct — tunnel, rebuild, repair, tear it down?

Frankly, I think any city with a monorail should never, ever get to complain about any public works decision. If I were a public works commissioner, I’d just say “you got your f*ing monorail, what more do you want?”

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The Sound of Young America continues its trial run on KXOT Sunday at noon.