Spooky symphonies! NPR, Turntable.fm, and Pandora gear up for Halloween
Halloween approaches, and the more creative among radio folk are preparing for the occasion. Turntable.fm has once again broken out the Halloween avatars. Here are some samples: “They’ll only be here for a limited amount of time,” tt.fm warns, “so enjoy them while they last! Halloween avatars, like lives, are fleeting.” Meanwhile, Goddess bless NPR, […]
Podcast Survivor: Back to Work #88 – So Many Reasons To Cry
Podcast review: Back to Work #88 – So Many Reasons To Cry Rating: 3 / 5 Back to Work can be a frustrating podcast. Featuring productivity guru Merlin Mann and interlocutor Dan Benjamin, the podcast is ostensibly about strategies for getting good work done, and dealing with the challenges and barriers that can impede. The […]
Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trips to WEFT and WRFU-LP in Champaign-Urbana
My Spinning Indie radio station field trip series is one of my favorite projects because it gives me an excuse to visit radio stations all over the country. Over the summer I was particularly ambitious and set foot in six radio stations in Illinois and Indiana during my trek to the mid-west for the Grassroots […]
Yes, there is another podcast reviewer out there
When I started my podcast review project last week I stated that one of my reasons for the undertaking is that podcast reviews are relatively rare. The Onion’s A/V club does a weekly podcast review roundup that tends to be dominated by comedy podcasts. I’ve found plenty of other podcast review sites on the ‘net […]
Podcast Survivor: Seth Godin’s Startup School #3
Podcast Review: Seth Godin’s Startup School #3 – Creating Scarcity Rating: 4 / 5 I don’t know how many episodes will be in Seth Godin’s Startup School series, but here we find him at episode #3, which is just as good as the first two. For more background on the series see my review of […]
Tavis Smiley responds to Chicago Public Media CEO Torey Malatia
In a firey open letter released Monday, public television and radio host Tavis Smiley issued a series of firm rebukes to Chicago Public Radio CEO Torey Malatia, whose flagship station, WBEZ, cancelled Smiley and West at the end of September. In that letter Smiley says that he was willing to “simply move beyond” the cancellation […]
College Radio News Round-Up: Radio K turns 100, KALX turns 50, WBNY turns 30
It’s always great to see college radio stations celebrating their lengthy histories and in recent weeks we’ve seen events commemorating college stations turning 30, 50, and 100! Additionally, I’m happy to share some other good news on the college radio front, culled from a number of recent articles. College Radio is Alive and Innovating In […]
Where are you Kill Radio? Almost 80 radio themed bands may still be owed royalties
Back in August, SoundExchange, the non-profit that distributes performance royalties to artists who have received digital airplay, issued a remarkable announcement. Over 50,000 artists and bands had yet to claim their royalty checks, the outfit noted. To clear the books, SoundExchange created a searchable database of groups that it thinks still haven’t registered to get […]
Chicago’s WBEZ is the 4th station to drop Smiley and West
Chicago’s public radio station WBEZ quietly dropped the syndicated Smiley and West program from its Sunday line-up at the end of September. This stands in contrast to the station’s decision to drop Car Talk reruns from its Saturday line-up, which management communicated in an email to donor members explaining the decision and soliciting feedback (full […]
Two weekends of radio, podcast and sound arts conferences
I’m a little bummed and surprised that I only found out these two radio and sound art conferences this afternoon. free103point9 is hosting the Transmission Arts Colloquium this weekend at its Wave Farm Study Center in New York State’s Hudson Valley. The Center is home to community radio station WGXC which dedicates much of its […]