Passport to Texas

We view our series partly as an educational venue to help you understand nature and the outdoors. But it’s also an enjoyable and entertaining way to bring the outdoors indoors.

When you’re stuck in rush hour traffic, we try to bring in a little fresh air and open space. We can’t actually get you out of gridlock physically, but hopefully we can transport you mentally to places with green grass and blue sky through sounds and words, if only for a little while.

Cecilia Nasti – Executive Producer

I credit my Grandmother on my mother’s side for getting me involved in radio — and quite by accident, really. One year for Christmas, she sent all the kids in my family personal transistor radios. I couldn’t believe it. My very own radio. While the newness eventually wore off for my siblings, it never did for me. I took my radio everywhere with me, and always wondered about the people whose voices I heard coming from the tiny speaker. By the time I was in junior high school, I began dreaming of working in radio. Dreams do come true (with hard work and perseverance).

My job as Executive Producer of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Passport to Texas radio series is truly a gift. This job allows me to weave together my love of radio with my passion for nature and sharing what I know with others.

Each day I have the opportunity to interview fascinating people, including wildlife and fisheries biologists, game wardens, park managers and education specialists, who are committed to understanding, protecting and conserving our native wildlife, habitat and cultural resources for current and future generations of Texans. My job is to take what I have learned from them, and share that with you. What could be better?

Joel Block — Audio Engineer, The Block House Studios

As Project Audio Engineer for Passport to Texas, I’ve been pushing the buttons on Passport for well over a decade now and am starting to get a pretty good feel for how each module should sound. It’s a challenge to produce an entire month’s worth of programs in a single day, but Cecilia and I have truly got it down now and it’s a joy to work on the series.

I’ve been an Austinite since 1969, and am president of The Block House, in Austin that specializes in spoken word projects such as Passport to Texas, Hightower Radio, Earth & Sky, and numerous other state, regional and national projects.

Here’s something you might find interesting: I’m the son of Martin Block, the world’s first disc jockey. It’s true. And, I’m following in my father’s footsteps as host of the Earth & Sky radio series, heard around the world, plus many other voice-over projects.

Benjamin Jansen — CD Duplication, Audion Media