Did Stan Freberg Invent the Comedy Podcast?
While on vacation this past weekend, I spotted a 1966 Stan Freberg comedy LP in a used bookstore. The album, Freberg Underground Show #1, audaciously announces on its cover that it is “Introducing a ZOWIE! new medium: Pay Radio!” Modeled after Freberg’s radio shows, the album replicates the same format, but was free from network […]
They Might Be Giants Launches Dial-a-Song Radio Network
They Might be Giants just brought back its Dial-a-Song series (which debuted in the 1980s) in which the band is releasing a new song every week for a year. As part of the promotion, it will be debuting each week’s song over a Monday night podcast (“The Gist”) on Slate as well as sharing the […]
Do we need another Blue Book for radio?
I am reading Victor Pickard’s terrific book America’s Battle for Media Democracy and wondering to myself: do we need another “Blue Book” for radio? What was the Blue Book (you may be asking)? It was a publication released by the Federal Communications Commission in 1946 titled “Public Service Responsibility of Broadcast Licensees.” As Pickard summarizes […]
A Night Vale Holiday Recap
I’ve been absent in light of schoolwork, and it’s felt good catching up on WTNV. That vaguely promised book has been officially announced, so that’s pretty exciting. I’d gotten pretty behind (by my standards, anyway), so I’m going to be glossing over The List, Monolith, and Antiques. Perhaps the most endearing thing for me about […]
10 Fascinating Things Spotted at College Radio Stations in 2014
I was lucky to be able to visit quite a few college radio stations in 2014 and have shared some of those field trips on Radio Survivor and Spinning Indie. Next week I’ll write up a comprehensive “2014 year in review” post about the state of college radio, but as I reflect back on the […]
Top 100 composer lists: and the point is . . . ?
Classical public radio station WQXR in New York City has released its annual New Year’s top 100 composition list—the results of a listener poll of favorite pieces. The results bear an uncanny resemblance to, well, last year’s WQXR top 100 list. Here are the top dozen of this year and 2013: 2013 2014 1 Beethoven Symphony […]
2014 – A Pivotal Year for LPFM
As we reflect back on 2014, it was an exceptional year for low power FM (LPFM) radio in the United States. Beginning on January 15, 2014, the FCC began granting construction permits to some of the 2,799 groups who submitted applications in the late 2013 filing window and by the end of January, 2014, more […]
Retro Radio Farm and an Archive of Radio History
Happy New Year! For your holiday weekend enjoyment I thought I’d share a couple of fun radio-related sites I’ve been made aware of. First, is the Retro Radio Farm, sent to me by Jenny. As described by MessyNessy Chic, it’s an Etsy store run by “a music box wizard of sorts, specialising in bringing some […]
What community radio is saying on New Year’s eve
Some community radio/podcasting related missives we are getting from our Facebook and Twitter pages as of, well, now. From Radio Valencia in San Francisco: It is going to be the first live @RadioValenciaSF show of the year! Do not miss tomrorow’s #protonicreversal with Mr. @congletonjohn — Conan Neutron (@conanneutron) December 31, 2014 From ARTxFM in […]
Radio Survivor’s Top Podcasts of 2014
This year I’m pleased once again to share the top podcasts of the year as chosen by my esteemed colleagues, friends and podcast fanatics, Jenny Benevento and Kyle Riismandel. Jenny is an information architect who lectures on branding, social media, musicians and pop culture. She is a taxonomy consultant to Etsy and also hosts a […]