Faves and raves by
Kojo Nnamdi
Nnamdi hosts "The Kojo Nnamdi Show" and "The Politics Hour" on NPR's Washington affiliate station, WAMU 88.5. He also hosts WHUT-TV's "Evening Exchange with Kojo." Nnamdi, a native of Guyana, moved to the United States in 1968.
PERSONAL STATS
AGE: 65
NUMBER OF YEARS IN D.C.: 41
NEIGHBORHOOD(S): Shaw, Brightwood
- Markham Heid
1. FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT
The track at Coolidge High School. Slow morning jogs and conversation. Summer evenings to watch others do the same and watch the school's football team practice.
2. BEST MODE OF TRANSPORTATION
My car (don't beat me up, it's a hybrid). I tend to go a lot of short distances in my neighborhood and in the city. But if I'm going downtown, it's Metro.
3. FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS EVENT
American University basketball games
4. BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC
The Islander Caribbean Restaurant (1201 U St. NW). Jazz on Sundays.
5. BEST PLACE FOR OUT-OF-TOWN VISITORS
Rock Creek Park. It always surprises them, this huge park in the middle of the city.
6. FAVORITE MUSEUM
Smithsonian Anacostia Museum
7. MOST ROMANTIC SPOT
Anywhere I can gaze at the moon and the stars
8. FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A LAZY SUNDAY
Three newspapers, one movie at Landmark E Street Cinema
9. BEN'S CHILI BOWL, OLD EBBITT GRILL OR CAFE MILANO?
Indique Heights (2 Wisconsin Circle, Chevy Chase). But if you insist, Old Ebbitt Grill.
10. BEST PLACE FOR LATE-NIGHT EATS
Full Kee in what's left of Chinatown (509 H St. NW)
11. PROUDEST PART OF LIVING IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
The only place where both domestic and foreign policy are always front and center
12. EMBARRASSING PART OF LIVING IN D.C.
Ironic given my love of neighborhoods, but I'm embarrassed by residents too caught up with neighborhood issues to be passionate about voting rights.
13. BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE WATCH
Outside or inside the Verizon Center before and after basketball or hockey games.
14. PIECE OF MUSIC THAT YOU MOST ASSOCIATE WITH D.C.
A song by Chuck Brown called "We The People" that was popular when I first got here in the late 1960s. Got it in my iPod too.
15. FAVORITE LOCAL HIDDEN TREASURE
The National Arboretum
16. FAVORITE MEMORY ON D.C. PUBLIC RADIO
Broadcasting "WAMU in Your Ward" (now called "Kojo in Your Community") from St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Southeast and being terribly nervous. I'd interviewed world leaders and famous people. But hey, my pastor was in the audience.