It’s a little before 10 a.m. on a weekday and Dan Guzman (’99), the executive producer of WBUR’s local broadcast of “All Things Considered,” has just arrived at the studio for invigorating day of putting together the country’s most-listened-to afternoon drive-time news radio show.

The hours ahead could be a roller coaster and will be colored with stories that inspire any and every emotion on the human spectrum. Guzman’s leadership experience has taught him there’s only one way to kick off such a pressure-packed day.

He says “good morning” to everybody.

“The day could go downhill real fast,” says Guzman, who was senior producer at WBUR’s “Morning Edition” before moving over to “All Things Considered,” early this year. “If you start the day with a good morning, you’re at least starting off on a good note.”

Guzman, who spent more than a decade in television news before returning to Boston to enter the radio realm, will do his best to maintain his plucky demeanor throughout the day, as he and his team produce serious journalism for the masses.

“I’m just making sure we’re a good work environment and that we have a chance to laugh at some point in the day. I’m happy to make cheesy references or ‘dad jokes’ to my team,” he said. “We cover some heady stuff sometimes, so you want to make sure that everybody is smiling.”

Soul and Grace

Guzman’s love of journalism and his approach to it spawned while interning as a BU undergraduate at New England Cable News (NECN). There he gained experience and met a mentor who would play a big role in his career: Tom Melville (’80), who was executive producer at the time.

“He taught me that you can be a great journalist—especially in TV news—and still be a great person,” Guzman said. “That kindness goes far; a level head goes far. It took me many, many years to learn all of his lessons, but he kept instilling them.”

Melville, who most recently served as the communications director for the MIT Energy Initiative, “did everything” he could to hire his protégé after graduation, but Guzman was eager to see what life had to offer outside of the Bay State’s borders. He landed in St. Louis at KSDK, an NBC affiliate, and later moved on to WUSA, a CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C.

By 2012, Melville had become the executive news director at WBUR and knew he wanted to lure Guzman back to the Hub. And, after more than a decade producing local TV news, Guzman was looking for something that would both fulfill him more “capital-J Journalistically.”

“He’s driven to produce really high-quality journalism,” Melville said. “He does it in a newsroom with grace and humor and a lot of soul. And I’ve always felt the most important attribute of any great journalist is soul. He cares about people, he cares about public policy and he leads a journalism team that’s committed to telling really important stories.”

Guzman knew he made the right decision joining WBUR not just because it gave him what he “needed journalistically.” He recalls walking around town in WBUR swag one day, and the reaction from passersby was overwhelmingly positive. He worked the phones for a pledge drive and was impressed by how invested contributors felt in the programs the station was producing.

Important Stuff

When Guzman begins his commute from his Boston-area home, where he lives with his husband Steve and their boxer-mix Bear, he usually takes the “All Things Considered” morning meeting on Zoom in his car.

At the station, after his ever-important greeting of his coworkers, things kick into high gear.

“All Things Considered” is produced out of DC, and Guzman’s day entails “air-traffic controlling” production of the local newscasts, breaks and occasional feature content with the main program. It’s a massive national undertaking of what Guzman calls “collaborative journalism.”

He’s driven to produce really high-quality journalism. He does it in a newsroom with grace and humor and a lot of soul…. He cares about people, he cares about public policy and he leads a journalism team that’s committed to telling really important stories.

Tom Melville (’80)

After he touches base with the “Morning Edition” crew to get up to date on the news of the day, Guzman begins compiling a list of stories to be covered, identifying which scripts need to be edited and checking in with reporters, editors and engineers throughout the hours before the show’s scheduled start.

Guzman hates being called the boss, but he leads the team responsible for determining what stories need to be covered and what sources need to be included—particularly if there are voices that haven’t been heard yet. He’s also in contact with the engineers about their mixing process. He says one thing he’s learned how to do in a management role is how to “stay out of the way” and give space to the people working on the stories.

On any given day, he might also write some stories, talk to people for soundbites or assist the field producer with lining up interviews. The reporter in Guzman often comes out when he takes on an interview. “I like talking to people, I like picking their brains,” he says.

“Dan is passionate about the news and the people who make it,” says Jeff Cohen, the station’s managing producer for local news programs. “He’s a fierce advocate for both, a leader who understands that each person needs their own kind of motivation and attention, and he’s someone who cares deeply about the success of the newsroom as a whole.”

Ten minutes before the show goes to air, Guzman will enter the studio with the host and engineer. For the next two and a half hours, as the show unfolds, Guzman is keeping a close eye on any changes that may need to be made. And he likes to make the show sound a little unique with appropriate music—perhaps a tribute to a late singer who’s in the news or Squeeze’s “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” for a story about restoring marshes.

Throughout, there’s a consistent back and forth between Guzman and the WBUR “All Things Considered” host Lisa Mullins, a public radio veteran whom he praises for her journalism and “incredible on-air presence.”

When the show ends, it’s time for a deep breath, maybe a lap or two around the building to unwind and then some congratulatory goodbyes for the team before heading home.

The work gives Guzman the adrenaline rush he’s sought throughout his career. “We’re not always covering the most feel-good things out there because the world can be a scary place,” he says. “But I feel like it’s important stuff that we do and we’re helping people be informed, we’re helping them know what’s going in the world and hopefully making sense of what’s going on in the world.”