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Author Archive | Bob Mason

One Radio Day

Lost and Found on One Radio Day in 1939

A nineteen hour tape of an entire day’s radio broadcast of WJSV in Washington DC is available via Hoopla. The day is September 21, 1939, a day in which Franklin Roosevelt gave a speech to congress asking it to amend the Neutrality Act so he could aid the allies as World War II had begun.

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Reflections on waiting for Bob and Ray to be funny

I saw Bob and Ray on YouTube on the David Letterman show the other day and I found myself waiting for the funny parts, thinking “when is the joke going to finally happen”? I was chuckling and twittering as if this was already funny, that delicious moment of becoming ready to laugh out loud. I […]

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The radio magic of Marian McPartland

Marian McPartland died at 95 this week. She was a terrific piano player until the end; more importantly she pioneered and miraculously maintained – for four decades! – a special, wonderful radio program – “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz”. The format was simple yet unique: she brought another musician into the studio, and had combined duets/interviews/conversations with them, gracefully moving […]

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How the Eton Microlink Solar Powered American Red Cross stickered radio changed my life

How the Eton Microlink Solar Powered American Red Cross stickered radio changed my life

A birthday present from my best friend, a ‘portable’ radio – the Eton Microlink FR160 Solar-powered radio, with emergency crank power and an American Red Cross sticker of approval – arrived in my life, six weeks ago and has become dear to me. Astonishingly I have found myself listening, more and more, even though I […]

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NPR’s top ten jazz songs (and mine)

NPR asked its jazz listeners to rate their favorite songs, and gleaned from those responses a list of the top ten Jazz songs of all time[1]. What is interesting about the lists is not that they can establish what is “best,” whatever that might mean, or what is most popular (sales records, etcetera, show that). Looking at […]

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Trying to have an intelligent discussion about health care on KPFA (and not succeeding)

If you think the above title is long, here’s the one I suggested to Radio Survivor’s editors: Dr. Michael LeNoir tries to have an intelligent discussion of Health Reform on the KPFA airwaves, and is mercilessly pummeled: A Case Study of the Left’s vilification of Obama and its dismissal of Partial Reforms Last week, respected […]

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