Mailbag: we get our first LPFM transmitter kit from a fan
We received the following package from an admirer last week, accompanied by this missive: “Howdy! Read in Monday’s New York Times about your low power FM radio efforts (I thought smartphones put an end to low power FM. Glad it did not). Back in the 1990’s I was interested enough to get a kit from […]
College Radio Watch: 2017 Year in Review and More News
At the start of another new year, I’m reflecting back on all that has transpired in 2017, including the state of college radio. I was grateful to have been able to visit more radio stations (in Virginia, New York, Illinois and California) and have written up 16 of my 2017 visits so far. The past […]
Podcast #124 – Seattle Hosts Young Podcasters & a New LPFM
Eric and Paul met young enthusiastic podcasters and podcast fans when they attended Podcon in Seattle at the beginning of December. It’s almost an understatement to say they were impressed by diversity of the attendees, and their love of radio drama style shows. Your hosts learned a lot (there’s a library with free public podcast […]
The New York Times Covers LPFM Community Radio
This past weekend the New York Times published a story on low-power FM community radio, with a particular focus on Washington and Oregon, where there is a unique concentration of stations. In assembling his story correspondent Kirk Johnson visited many stations and talked with a host of broadcasters and advocates, including Radio Survivors Jennifer Waits, […]
Hybrid Highbrow podcast #4: Why jazz loves Béla Bartók
The fourth installment of my Hybrid Highbrow podcast gets at a musical phenomenon that I have wanted to explore for a while: the affinity that the jazz world has for the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. In pursuit of this nexus, I’m serving up some wonderful tracks by Richie Beirach, Tabula Rasa, Oliver Haynes, the Peter […]
Podcast #123 – 2017 in Review: The Good, the Bad & the Conspiracy Theories
2017 was a year of ups and downs, from the continued growth of LPFM to the loss of net neutrality. All four Radio Survivors gather to review the year that was, assessing what happened in college radio, community radio and podcasting, with stops along the way in Istanbul, conspiracy theories and classical music. Jennifer, Matthew, […]
Podcast #122 – The Popular Community Radio Movement in Argentina
Anita Pouchard Serra traveled across Argentina helping to set up new community radio stations with the DTL! collective. A photojournalist, she also documented the building of these stations, that are officially unlicensed, but operate in the spirit of a communications law that passed, but never went into effect. Anita joins to tell us about this […]
Good Vibrations! a conversation about Açık Radyo of Istanbul, Turkey
The credo of Açık Radyo of Istanbul, Turkey begins as follows: “We have apparently lost our ability to have fun! Radio, TV, newspapers, and the like are all so terribly tedious and boring; mainstream media mainly serving nothing but a magnanimous mediocracy; being full of sound and fury, signifying nothing but a deafening cacophony. Paradoxically, mass […]
College Radio Watch: Chef Competition, Radio Drama, and Return of WPRK
Happy Winter Holidays! With holiday break happening on many campuses, there isn’t too much college radio news to report. In lieu of a year-end wrap-up, stay tuned for a future Radio Survivor Podcast in which I’ll be talking about some of the big college radio stories from 2017. College Radio News WPRK Has Been off […]
Is FM Radio Norway’s Network Neutrality? Majority Still Opposes Shutdown
Norway’s FM radio won’t go away that easily. Two years ago the world press reported, often breathlessly, on the Scandinavian country’s plans to end its national radio services on the FM dial, switching them over to digital broadcasting. Lost in most of the reportage was the fact 200 local FM stations would remain on the […]