Best Of Tucson®

The End-of-Days Exit Interview: Amanda Shauger

Every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon, Amanda Shauger is on the air at KXCI FM 91.3. She's the host of The Music Mix, an eclectic blend of tunes—new, old, local and world. She is also the community engagement director at the station. Shauger says her job is a mixture of duties—sort of like her show, which features a mixture of music genres. She helps local groups get their messages on the air, and works with station volunteers. Shauger got her start in radio as a KXCI volunteer, back in the summer of 1998. How did she make the jump from volunteer to employee? "They couldn't get rid of me," Shauger says.

A meteor is going to hit the planet tomorrow. Where in Tucson would you go for your final meal?

I would say Agustín Brasserie. I just tried it for the first time. I really enjoyed the meal that I had there, and the service. I had this amazing trout, an amazing margarita, delicious mousse, a great cup of coffee, and an amazing frisée salad. It was really delicious.

Our new robot overlords want to ban alcohol. Where would you want to have your final drink?

47 Scott. (I'd have) whatever their special is. I would trust them and enjoy (it).

Global warming has increased outside temps to 130 degrees in the summer. Where do you go to cool off?

To cool off when it's that hot, (I would be) in the bathtub or under the swamp cooler, reading.

Aliens have landed in your backyard and say: "Take us to your leader." Where in Tucson would you send them?

Al Perry, because he is sometimes considered the mayor of Tucson. If he wasn't available, then Fletcher McCusker, the head of the Providence Service Corporation. He's the new chairman of the Rio Nuevo board. He's really passionate about Second Saturdays and investing downtown.

The mole people are invading the surface world through a tunnel that opens in your backyard. What local business would you turn to for help?

The purple people—they are security people for downtown Tucson. They are not police, but they help out when there is a situation. They are part of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, kind of a first line of defense downtown.

If a zombie apocalypse were to happen in Tucson, what shopping center would you like to hole up in?

The Food Conspiracy Co-op. For a shopping center, (it would be) Monterey Village Shopping Center (at Speedway Boulevard and Wilmot Road). I would go into Bookmans. ... The kids' section has a nice comfortable play area (laughs), and maybe the foreign-language section (would help) so I could communicate with the zombie overlords.

What Tucson band or musician would you want to write the soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it?

Howe Gelb. Hasn't he already done it? ... Certainly Tucson has so many great bands and soundtrack artists. I think Howe Gelb has always been a keen observer of the human condition. ... He would have a lot of fun with it. It would be both poignant and potentially danceable.

If you had only one sunset left in Tucson, from where would you watch it?

The classic: Gates Pass. I would like to watch it surrounded with loved ones.