No Controversial Enough?

So I was on a phone call with a producer for an NPR interfaith radio show. It was a pre-interview interview to screen me in order to decide whether I would be a good fit for their show. At one point, the producer said something I have never heard before. She said:

“Although I have not received your book yet, I’m afraid it might not be controversial enough for our show.”

Huh? I have NEVER heard that one before. It was totally unexpected, especially considering all the hate-mail I get. It was actually pretty refreshing. It was also somewhat my fault.

Here I was thinking this is NPR and an interfaith show; tone down the rhetoric of the book and sound very friendly, fuzzy, and nice. It backfired. The lesson?

Be yourself. When you’re trying to be someone that’s not genuine, it backfires every time. Funny thing is, that’s really the lesson of my book.