Natalia Rulli ’25 is the host of Mactire, a music and talk show hybrid that runs every Tuesday from 12:00-2:00p.m. on 91.7FM WMCN radio. The title Mactire comes from a combination of the main throughline of Rulli’s show — satire — with the name Macalester.
“I like to center Mactire around the fun — the fun in media and celebrity gossip and drama,” Rulli said. “I love doing the book reviews and the media reviews, because that’s what I’m passionate about.”
Overall, she tries to keep her content local to both the Macalester student body and the Twin Cities area, but she doesn’t limit herself too closely and sometimes broadens her scope to include national politics and celebrity updates.
Most weeks, Rulli concentrates each show on a specific theme. She celebrated Latinx Heritage Month by playing exclusively Latinx artists and discussing related topics, and Halloween by jamming out to spooky tunes and recommending her favorite Halloween-related movies and books. Because November is Native American Heritage month, she plans to center one of her upcoming shows around Indigeneous artists and culture.
“The satirical part just comes in with me putting my little spin on things — my commentary, my opinions — which are mostly humorous,” Rulli said.
One of her favorite parts about Mactire is its flexibility, and she sees it changing and growing in the future. She hopes to implement more political aspects into her show; she wants to discuss updates from both on-campus activity as well as national news. Rulli said that she strives to be honest and open about important issues on air during every show.
“I know Trevor Noah deals exclusively with political and celebrity aspects of media, but I really love those kinds of talk shows where the host is pointing out things that are wrong with the media and the political arena, and making satirical comedy out of it,” Rulli said.
In addition to Trevor Noah, Rulli draws inspiration from other talk show hosts like Oprah, as well as comedians — which, after growing up in a household of comedy lovers, was almost inevitable. She forms her own type of satirical commentary by injecting the format of those political talk shows with the essence of comedy. This way, Rulli can draw attention to real world issues that have always been important to her with her other passion — comedic relief.
The second half of Mactire is music: Rulli pulls from different playlists each week to give her listeners something fresh to tune into. Her favorite genre of music, alternative pop, gets the most air time, no matter the specific show’s theme.
“I play a lot of Cage the Elephant and The Neighborhood — those are both alternative — and then as far as pop, I love Sam Smith and Conan Grey,” Rulli said. “I [also] like to mix it up with those soft pops — The Lumineers and Borns and Coldplay.”
In the future, Rulli wants to discuss more politics and bring on more guest stars. She wants to keep doing holiday themed episodes, so keep an eye out for the Thanksgiving and Christmas content starting shortly.
“I just have a lot of hopes for Mactire,” Rulli said. “I feel like it’s really strong, so however it evolves, I’ll go with it and support it.”
She loves how she gets to express her creative and outgoing personality in her own dedicated two hour slot. While it can be stressful to plan content for the shows, it’s always rewarding. Mactire is an outlet for her comedic and artistic side that she doesn’t always get — especially because she sees herself possibly pursuing the pre-med track and majoring in neuroscience.
“Expect the unexpected when it comes to Mactire,” Rulli concludes. “One week you’ll be listening to what each “Twilight” character’s political party would be, and the next week you’ll be listening to me discuss issues of the patriarchy.”
Indeed, Mactire is all about relaxing and having a casual conversation with a friend.
“It’ll get deep and it’ll be fun and it’s just a nice place to listen,” Rulli said. “So be prepared for anything.”
To tune into the next show, go to https www.wmcn.fm.

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