I found it! I found a clip! I’ve been wanting to ask about this for so long!
Every now and then on the radio (NPR) I’ve heard interviewees with a particular American accent that I do not know the geographic location of. Every time I hear it, I completely fail to note who the person is and as a result haven’t been able to follow up on this.
It almost sounds to my ear like a very light Irish accent. But I hear it from enough apparently American-born-and-bred people that I know that’s not what it is.
And now I’ve found a person on youtube who has this accent. It’s the host on this video clip of the Harry Potter cast imitating an American Accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYKY4IuxTXc
Again, I’m not talking about any of their accents, I’m talking about this host’s native American accent. The (to my ear) exaggerated crunchy R’s, slightly fronted vowels, that stuff.
What is this accent?