Lauren (Levine) Corriher grew up in Syracuse and in radio. Her father Ed owns radio stations in Syracuse and Utica, and Lauren was listening to WJPZ on the bus to and from middle school.
In fact, 13 year old Lauren was recalling a great Z Morning Zoo bit around the dinner table, and she didn't believe her father when he told her the station was run by SU students. That couldn't be, she thought. They sound just as good as 93Q and Hot 1079!
(Editor's note: damn right we did, if not better.)
After spending her first 18 years in Central New York, Lauren really planned on going to school elsewhere. But the more she learned about SU, Newhouse, and WJPZ, she ended up on campus 30 minutes from home. And while many of alumni got a fresh perspective on the Salt City after graduation, Lauren had the opposite experience. She went from high school trips to Carousel Mall to the bubble of the SU Hill. She explains.
At Z, she was an integral part of the executive staff, always being part of station management. And she started the Red Carpet Report, an entertainment report that still lives on at Z89, over a decade later.
Following graduation, Lauren followed her writing for passion, which eventually led her to Charlotte, North Carolina. The adjustment from Northern snow to Southern cockroaches was difficult, but she soon thrived - meeting her husband there and continuing a successful writing career. She also reconnected with classmate (and former podcast guest) Mike Couzens, who lives nearby.
Lauren and Jag talk about the culture of Z89, and how it allows for a common bond between folks, no matter what their age. The accepting environment means if you meet someone from the station, it's an instant connection.
And we close with the story of Lauren's first break on Z89....and a story that may ring familiar to many of us.
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast is produced by Jon "JAG" Gay, Class of 2022, and his company JAG in Detroit Podcasts
JAG: Welcome to WJPZ at 50. Hi, I am Jon Jag Gay. Today's guest grew up in Syracuse. She's been around radio her entire life, and she was one of my absolute favorite people until we did some math a couple weeks ago and realized that she may have been listening to me on the WJPZ while she was on her middle school school bus on the way to school, but I won't hold it against her. From the class of 2010. Welcome Lauren Courier, formerly Lauren Levine.
Lauren: Hi, JAG. Thanks for having me.
JAG: So you have a unique origin story in how you got to Syracuse and how you got to the station. Let's start at the beginning.
Lauren: I do. Yeah. So I grew up in Syracuse. We moved there when I was about six. My family is in the radio business.
My dad owns a group of radio stations in Syracuse and Utica called Galaxy Media. So I was both Syracuse and radio adjacent, basically, since I could talk. So it felt like a natural fit to join JPZ when I went to Syracuse.
JAG: You told me previously though, growing up, you didn't know it was a student run radio station. You said you got into an argument with your dad about this.
Lauren: Yes. So when we were on the bus, on the way to both middle school and high school, before I could drive, the bus driver would play the Z Morning Zoo and he would alternate between, Ted and Amy and Hot 107 and the Z Morning Zoo. So I just thought okay, these are the radio stations in my market. That makes sense. And I was at home, I remember this very clearly. We were at the dinner table and the Zoo had done some sort of prank or something that, 13 year old me thought was hilarious. And so I was telling my dad about it and he was like, oh, you know that those are the kids from Syracuse University.
And I was like no. Like we listened to this. We listen to Ted and Amy, we listen to Hot 107. Like it's one of those stations. And he was like, no, I know, but those are college kids. You could be on that station at Syracuse. And of course, every 12, 13 year old thinks their parent is an idiot, even if they work in the business.
So I was like, dad, you are a moron. Like you don't know what you're talking about. And so finally, I forget how he proved it to me, but finally he did show me like, yes, this is a student station. And I was like, oh my gosh. Like I obviously thought these people were professionals. They know what they're doing.
JAG: So if you were listening to Marty and Peterman and Emily and whoever was on around my era at that time, again before you had your own license we will take that compliment very highly.
Lauren: A hundred percent. Whoever the combination was, you were very entertaining and very professional. So snaps to you
JAG: Oh, I'll pass that along to my classmates.
Lauren: Please do.
JAG: But I'd imagine before that you were even thinking about Syracuse as a school, cuz you were, it's in your backyard, right?
Lauren: It was interesting. So both of my parents went to Syracuse, went to Newhouse, they met there, my mom's freshman year. My dad's sophomore.
So it had always been in my brain that, Syracuse is a great school, they have a really good communications program. No kid wants to go, like I was 30 minutes from my Haven Hall freshman year dorm. No one really wants to do that. So I toured Ithaca College. I toured Quinnipiac University, Boston University, like I was determined to not go to school in Syracuse.
And then I went back for another tour of Newhouse and I was like, man, I really like this school. It just feels professional. It feels like I wanted that college campus feel. And Boston University is great, but you're in Boston, you don't have a quad.
JAG: Your campus is Commonwealth Avenue.
Lauren: Yeah, right. So I'm like, okay. Syracuse has that college vibe. They have a lot of activities. They have a lot of really well-respected people. And so I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna go to Syracuse and make it my own experience. And to my parents' credit, they never showed up at my dorm. Like it was not, oh surprise, we're here to check and make sure you're not drinking or whatever.
Like they were very respectful of those boundaries and I really do think. life as a Syracuse University student is very different than growing up in Manlius where I grew up. Like it felt like a very different city, and that campus becomes its own universe anyway. So it doesn't really matter. Oh, I'm 3000 miles from home. I'm 30 minutes from home. Like when you're in the dorm or we're when you're at Z. Like you're in your own world. So I loved it. Obviously.
JAG: It's really funny you say that because there have been several people we've had on the podcast that worked in the Syracuse market as alumni and they had the opposite experience because they were like, okay, living in Syracuse in the Syracuse market is way different than being in your little bubble up on the Hill.
But you had been exposed to the greater market and then you went to the Hill. So you had the exact opposite.
Lauren: I did. And it's so funny. I would go to Carousel Mall. Now it's Destiny, but Carousel Mall at that time, yeah, all the time. With my friends when I was in high school, that's what we would do every weekend.
But when I lived on campus, I would like, we're gonna go to Carousel? That's so far, like how are we gonna get there? My whole frame of reference was so different when I'm living up there as a student.
JAG: By the way, I'm probably glad for your sake, you didn't go to BU. I can't imagine a Yankee fan would've been wanted to be that close to Fenway Park.
Lauren: I probably would not have made any friends. It would not have been good.
JAG: Okay. So you're at Syracuse and then I'd imagine you went to the JPZ pretty quickly after getting there.
Lauren: Yeah, so it was really interesting. My freshman year roommate rushed a sorority and I had been thinking like, that's probably a good way to meet people.
But when I looked into it, I was just like, ugh, I don't. I have nothing against sorority girls, but I just, I did not feel like that was who I was. So I went to school thinking I'd be a TV reporter. So I'm like, I'm gonna get involved with Citrus, like I'm gonna go full in on that. But there was just something about Z and like I knew Z. I had grown up listening to Z and I'm a radio kid, so I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna give that a try.
And I actually, I was involved with Citrus, but I actually spent more of my extracurricular time at Z even though I was so convinced I wanted to be a TV reporter. But it just, it felt like home to me always.
JAG: So you had the familiarity with before you got to campus, who were some of the people that were already there when you arrived that made it feel so much like home?
Lauren: So when, and I forget he'll have to correct me, I forget if Kevin Rich had just left or was still there, but he was one of the first like authority figures, like big bosses that I met. And I was like, okay, these people are cool. I think I can get comfortable here. So I remember him being the GM and he may have just left, but it was interesting, like that whole Banquet experience my first year really solidified my love for Z because I was like, in what other organization can you meet people who are 20 years older than you? And it's not like weird and creepy, like they just genuinely want to help you. It was a very cool feeling right away to know that I could call anybody. Whether they currently worked at Z had been gone for 10 years, were a year behind me.
Like I could ask any the person for help. And it wouldn't be like, what do you want? Leave me alone. You know what I mean? It just, it felt very, it had that sorority feel without the negatives that I was not interested in.
JAG: I felt the exact same way. I always say, I didn't do a frat. Z89 was my frat.
Lauren: You don't need to, why would you?
JAG: Because you have all that social interaction without whatever hazing was going on at the time. That's probably illegal now.
Lauren: And paying $6,000 or whatever that my parents would not have paid for.
JAG: Oh, geez. Yeah. I didn't even get far enough to find out how much it cost.
Lauren: Yep. Yep.
JAG: Lauren, what did you do at the station? Get me through your time there.
Lauren: So I had a few different exec staff roles. I think I was like promotions director. honestly, I can't really remember, but I remember I was on the exec staff from early on and that, that mattered to me. That was important to me. So I went to school to be a TV reporter, as I said, and very quickly was like, this is not my jam.
I was more interested in pop culture, celebrity life. And I love Newhouse. I have nothing bad to say about Newhouse. When you're in that program. I'm trying to say this delicately. If you're not a hardcore news person, you can feel out of place sometimes. So being able to explore my pop culture side, my celebrity gossip side at Z and have that celebrated was really nice for me and it felt very inclusive.
JAG: I would agree with that. I think, I was also broadcast journal as a major, and I remember, by junior senior year we're putting together these newscasts at Newhouse and. I had classmates that were, okay, I'm gonna get into TV news, I'm gonna be a reporter, I'm gonna be a producer, and that's what I'm gonna do.
And I was like, dude, that's great. Have at it. But I knew at that time like, I think I'm gonna do like the top 40 pop culture thing. I think this is more my jam as opposed to, if it bleeds, it leads it's, it was more like hey, I think I'll talk about Britney Spears and Brad Pitt or whatever.
So I totally understand what you're saying there.
Lauren: Yeah, it was just more appealing to me. Had always felt like I kinda had to bury that part of myself and be like, I'm a news person. I love the news. And then at Z it was like, oh yeah, you like Britney Spears? Okay, cool. There's a place for you here. And I'm like, oh, I found my people. Finally.
JAG: Finding your people and inclusivity throughout 50 years has just been a theme that's come up in almost every single one of these podcasts. It's just this inclusive group of, no matter how old you are, but also no matter what you're interested in, it's Hey, come on in. Welcome.
Lauren: Yes, it's very cool. I never felt like I had to go to the station dressed a certain way. I could go in my sweatpants. It was not a judgey space. And that was really important to me because with the school as big as Syracuse, like you never know who you're gonna be running into and what kind of an impression you wanna be making.
But like at Z, it's okay, these are my people. And even if I haven't met Joe Schmoe specifically, like he's at Z, so he is my people too. So it felt very welcoming. Not pretentious.
JAG: Very well said. So you realize you're not gonna be the TV news reporter. You're more into the pop culture side of things. Walk me through what you did since graduation.
Lauren: Yeah, so I've been working for my parents' company. I started working for my parents' company, Galaxy Media, right after I graduated. I took a brief pause cuz I'm a writer at my core. That's who I am. And so I took a brief pause to take a job doing reputation management writing, which if you don't know, this is a sort of a side story.
JAG: She saw the perplexed look on my face and she's like okay, I should probably explain this a little bit.
Lauren: Yeah. So reputation management, writing, if you don't know, which most people don't, if you do something bad, you own a restaurant and there's a salmonella outbreak. All of a sudden if people are Googling, Jon Gay, and they're like, oh my gosh, this guy and his restaurant.
Now I would create a bunch of content about Jon Gay as a volunteer firefighter, Jon Gay loves dogs, and then all of a sudden when people are Googling your name, they're not finding out the not so great things.
JAG: One of those two previous statements is true. I should mention.
Lauren: Yes. Yes, exactly. So I always felt like I was using my writing powers for evil and not good.
And so that was tough for me. But it did get me to Charlotte because the company was based right outside of Charlotte, so a blessing in disguise. So I moved here and four months later the company closed down.
JAG: Oh, geez.
Lauren: Yeah. So I had moved from Syracuse to Charlotte. Now I'm unemployed. So I actually went to the CBS radio, which is now owned by Beasley, and I was just, I was gonna get a job there. They had a lot of opportunity in Charlotte. And so I talked to my dad and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna go interview at CBS. It's gonna be great. And he was like I thought you wanted to leave radio to do writing? If you're gonna get back in a radio, why not work with your family?
I'm like, okay. That's a fair point. So I've been working remotely and I love it because I get to do writing for my family's company. And also get to pursue freelance writing. So I've parlayed that into a career. I write for Southern Living. I write for Charlotte Magazine, places like Parents Magazine, Health Magazine.
So I get to explore that interest and also work with my family and get the radio itch scratched too. So it's the best of both worlds.
JAG: It's funny that you mentioned the Southern Living because my next question was going to be, If you felt the need after having grown up in Syracuse, having gone to Syracuse to spread your wings and go explore somewhere else and see what it's like to live somewhere else.
Here you are, snow girl from Syracuse and you're writing for Southern Living Magazine. Tell me about the change in culture going down there.
Lauren: I remember when I applied for this job, they said they were based in Charlotte, but you could work remotely. And I remember saying to my mom, I'm gonna apply for this job.
There's no way I will ever live in Charlotte like that. Hillbillies, rednecks, I'm not doing it, but I wanna write. And so I came down for a company Christmas party. I've lived here almost 10 years and I was like, oh my gosh, this is a really cool city. It feels very cosmopolitan, but it feels manageable.
And I had been thinking, maybe I wanna see someplace other than Syracuse. Obviously I love Syracuse, but as you said, wanted to spread my wings. So I'm like, I have a job where I know people cause I know my coworkers. So why not try living in Charlotte for a little while and then if I hate it, they don't ban you from returning to Syracuse or living somewhere else.
So I was like, I'll give it a year and we'll see. And that was almost a decade ago.
JAG: And you end up meeting your husband down there.
Lauren: I met my husband online on Bumble here. I'm like, I don't know what online dating is gonna be like, but let's give it a shot. Yeah, and he's very Southern, his family all lives here.
And I never, like in my mind, would've thought that I would've fit in with Southern culture. But it's just, it's so welcoming and obviously like it's 50 degrees. I'm sure it's snowing in Syracuse. There's just a lot of perks about living in the South.
JAG: I will say, full disclosure, you and I have an inside joke from when I lived in New Orleans, which is now almost 10 years old. Whenever one of us finds a southern cockroach, we usually end up texting each other about it.
Lauren: Jag the cockroach thing like that is my one hang up. So I've probably told you this story. This is a 100% true. I arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina. I drove the 12 hours down, drove my little Corolla.
I had a roommate open the door to the apartment. Oh, this is so exciting. I'm living on my own. This is great. And this is a hundred percent true. I had been in Charlotte for probably two hours, and all of a sudden something comes flying from behind the refrigerator, like past my head.
JAG: Oh, geez.
Lauren: And I was like, what was that? And my roommate was from North Carolina, so she was well aware and she's oh, it's just a roach. Hang on, I'll get a fly swatter. And I'm like, I'm sorry. It was a what? Cause like my family is from New York City. To me that's like dirty, filthy infestation, right? And so she, I see this huge thing flying.
It was like the size of a small dog. And I'm like, that's an insect? What are you talking about? And so she just smashed it like there was no big deal. And I called my mom hysterical and I, I have made a grave mistake, like something from Jurassic Park is in my apartment. What am I, can I go back to Syracuse? Like I'd rather shovel snow.
And it is still, it's still an issue. I still have my issues with them, but that is like my biggest southern hangup is the bug situation. But that's why God invented raid and exterminators and we're good.
JAG: You and I have bonded over that over the years cuz I was in New Orleans when you first came to Charlotte and we're like, what is going on? What are we doing in the South? We're a couple of northern folks. What is going on down here?
Lauren: We don't do that in the north. It's too cold. Those things can't survive.
JAG: It's very different. Someone told me in New Orleans keep my apartment at 68 degrees or colder, and if I did, they would stay away. And for the most part, in three years they did. And I kept it as clean as I possibly could.
Lauren: So I've tried bay leaves. Oh, if you ever need like a roach trick, I know everything about them. I'm like an expert. It's, yeah, it's a whole thing.
JAG: Lauren, talk to me about some of the relationships that you formed while you were at JPZ and maybe some lessons that you learned while you were at the station that have served you well in your career since graduation.
Lauren: So I keep talking about how I've been able to be friends with people of all different ages, and I think that is so cool because I can seek life advice from people who have been there ahead of me. I can give life advice to people who are coming up behind me. For example, Mike Couzens who was the GM of Z when I was there, I can't remember the exact years, but when I was there, is now one of my best friends and we were always friendly at Z and had a good relationship.
He was doing sports, he was younger. I was doing my celebrity red carpet report. But we reconnected and he and his wife live about 10 minutes from us now. Like we hang out all the time. And it was like, I think because we had that foundation of Z 89, like it was easy to reconnect and build on that versus just trying to find some random stranger like, oh, you went to Syracuse too.
I wouldn't know you if I ran you over, but I'm sure we were there at the same time. So it was like it was easier to build a friendship. And then of course you and I have been close forever. I'm scared to list people cause I know I'm gonna forget somebody. K-Rich. Michelle Buchwalter and I have been friends for years, Katie Leeds and I, Nikki Schloss.
There's just so many different people, so many different personality types. And then it's like you come together with this common ground and. You see each other at Banquet or whatever the case may be, and you're, it's no time has passed.
JAG: And it's funny, you talk about it doesn't matter, age difference, whatever. I remember one year. Somebody every year that gets snowed in and Syracuse and has a flight disaster leaving Syracuse, trying to get back to wherever they were going to, and I think it was when I was living in New Orleans, US Airways, RIP US Airways, they rebooked me. And it ended up being like Syracuse to Charlotte, to New Orleans.
And it was gonna take like the whole day to get there on Monday. And I had a seven hour layover in Charlotte, but it was the only way to get home. I called Lauren, I'm like, hey, what are you doing on Monday? And she's oh Jag, I'll come pick you up the airport. We come hang out. And we went and we got lunch and we hung out for a while.
I was like, that was perfect. But that's the relationship of JPZ that like, I felt totally comfortable like reaching out.
Lauren: You and I were not in school together, but I was like, awesome. That's great. And I think that's a really special thing that not a lot of other organizations provide.
JAG: Lauren, a minute ago you mentioned the red carpet report, which was not there when I was in school. That started years later. Tell me about how that got started.
Lauren: Yeah, so I was talking about, this love of celebrity pop culture that I had and I was ashamed of it, . But when I came to Z I suggested this idea like, okay, obviously other people like this too.
Otherwise TMZ and E-news would not exist. So I created a show called The Red Carpet Report. And I worked with Alex Brewer on it, who's an amazing human being and I'm 99% sure it still exists today. Which is so cool because think about, back then it was Britney and Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and now it's TikTok and people, I'm too old to even know.
But like that love of pop culture is still there and I think that's amazing.
JAG: It really is. I'm familiar with the red card report. I hadn't realized that it was you and your class that had started that. So props to you.
Lauren: It was, and I did my normal on-air shift. So actually the first time I was going to be on air at Z I remember this like it was yesterday.
I was so nervous. I was so excited. I had written down word for word all of my talk breaks, even though my dad told me not to. And so let's say I was gonna be on at noon, I'm telling my parents at 1155, it's coming up, you gotta listen to me. So they're both listening, pretending they're hundreds of miles away when they're literally just down the street.
And so it's my time and I turn the microphone on and I do my talk break. I'm so excited. And then I play the next song and I call my mom and dad and I'm like, how was it? How did it sound? And they're like it was good, but I don't really think you turn the mic all the way up. So it just sounded like whispering over a music bed.
JAG: Oh no.
Lauren: And I was like, oh my gosh. I was, this was like my big break and I just froze and I didn't know what to do. But again, the cool thing about Z. It's not a big deal. It happens all the time. Like it is a great place to learn and experiment and learn how to be on the radio or create content and not feel ashamed if you make a rookie mistake, which all of us have done.
JAG: Oh, I can tell you about plenty of mistakes I've made. Any other funny stories that you remember from your time at z?
Lauren: So for a brief time when I was on exec staff, we were trying to do like club nights. And I had never been to a club. I didn't have a fake ID or anything. So I got to go to a club in downtown Syracuse under the guise of official Z89 business.
And so that was definitely an eye-opening experience. It was certainly a good preparation for when I started going to Chuck's and all that. But yeah, that was definitely helped me see the world.
JAG: Lauren, you're a great friend and you are of course, a valuable alum. You've provided advice to so many alums.
I know when I interviewed Mike, he talked about how you and your husband Brad, have been wonderful friends to them in Charlotte, and then of course, the, I know you've talked to plenty of alumni younger than you and offered career advice to them as well. I just wanna thank you for taking a few minutes with us.
Lauren: Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me, and if anyone's listening, I'm always happy to help talk about radio, writing. Anything I can help with. I'm more than glad to do it.
JAG: Probably not talk about Syracuse basketball and football at the moment.
Lauren: Yeah, except for that, we could probably skip that part.
JAG: All right. Thanks Lauren.
Lauren: Thanks, Jag.