When Lori Carrell talks to God, people listen.
That’s because Carrell, a UW Oshkosh communication professor, hosts “Ask God!” — a Chicago-based television show that examines some of the deepest, most thought-provoking questions about our existence.
The show uses impromptu, on-the-street interviews as the basis for discussion. People around Chicago are chosen randomly to answer a single question: “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?”
Back at the studio, Carrell works with producers to choose one question as each show’s theme. Recent topics include forgiveness, the purpose of pain and the possibility of life on other planets. A group of panelists from distinctly different theological viewpoints then come together to explore the question.
Carrell, who is affectionately called “Dr. Lori” on the show, is grateful that guests usually don’t claim to know exactly how God would answer. As moderator, Carrell keeps the group focused and the dialogue from getting too heated or personal. She also makes sure the group has fun, often through the use of lighthearted props.
Carrell was asked to be the host in early 2007 while on sabbatical. The opportunity came up out of the blue. She was called to audition because producers remembered an interview she gave in the Chicago area in the late 1990s. Her college experience as a talk show host helped close the deal.
“At the audition, I wasn’t nervous because I was riveted by the people I was meeting and the conversations we were having,” she said. “I forgot I was auditioning.”
The show’s overall goal is to get people talking, Carrell said, because the spoken word can inspire change. “We’re trying to model that deep talking leads to deeper thinking.”
And that is just what she teaches her communication students every day.
“As students are looking for significance, for a way to make a difference in the world, we teachers of communication urge them to use their words,” Carrell said. “The goal of the show is to provoke deeper conversation and critical thinking among viewers, and I am hopeful that all of us who teach communication classes do that for UW Oshkosh students as well.”
The show, which started last summer, already has benefited Carrell’s students because she is able to incorporate her experiences from the show into the classroom.
“Moderating a dialogue about war or pain or forgiveness among people who hold different perspectives from each other — and from me — in front of millions of viewers is a challenge that assists me in teaching the concept of dialogue to my students. It’s not an abstract principle any more, that’s for sure,” she said.
The type of talking really matters, she adds. Quick, one-line answers to complex questions don’t inspire change. Dialogue does.
“Dialogue is a unique form of communication. It’s not a debate, not an argument. It doesn’t try to tell you why I am right and you are wrong. It requires ongoing empathy for the other members of the group, and while you’re listening, you learn about perspectives other than your own. That is how people’s thinking changes.”
Promotional clips that aired on the Total Living Network were filmed on a sweltering hot summer day at UW Oshkosh and feature UW Oshkosh junior Grace McMurtie as well as different settings on campus, including a classroom in Swart Hall, Reeve Memorial Union, Dempsey Hall and Polk Library. Filming the clips was less than glamorous, Carrell recalls, due to both the heat and to EAA airplanes that kept interrupting.
Makeup artists and hairstylists are quick to jump in when Carrell’s appearance begins to, well, wilt. And during days of 12-hour filming, multi-tasking becomes mass chaos, she added with a laugh.
But hosting “Ask God!” incorporates the aspects of communication that are nearest and dearest to Carrell.
“It’s just what I love most — good conversation with interesting people about things that matter … just with lots of make-up, bright lights and cameras inches away,” she said.
Carrell hopes a second season of the show will include more diverse guests and questions from internet viewers.
Although the show is about the power of the spoken word, Carrell’s appreciation for editors who can change her words is very high.
“Once I called a guest by the wrong name and was mortified, but when I saw the edited show, I called him by the correct name — magic!”
Learn more about “Ask God!” at www.askgodtv.com/AskGod_TV/Home.html.
Clips from “Ask God!” also are available on YouTube: