After coming to the brink of a shutdown when grant monies were dramatically reduced, the Free Music Archive announced that it will live on under the ownership of camera rental company KitSplit. A few weeks ago my Radio Survivor colleague Erick Klein talked at length with FMA Director Cheyenne Hohman, who explained why the project […]
Musician, DJ and radio artist Don Joyce passed away nearly three years ago, on July 22, 2015. He left behind a voluminous archive of his KPFA radio program “Over the Edge,” which took off in new, chaotic and creative directions when he welcomed the participation of the experimental band Negativland in 1981, then joining the […]
I just listened to the latest episode of The Quietus Hour featuring an interview with Matt Johnson, the principal behind the English post-punk band The The. Although Johnson largely put the band on hiatus—save some film soundtrack work—since its last formal release in 2000, I learned from the interview that on UK election day in […]
I was very saddened to learn that the actor Bill Nunn has died. Spike Lee announced the news on his Instagram account: “officialspikelee My Dear Friend, My Dear Morehouse Brother- Da Great Actor Bill Nunn As Most Of You Know Him As Radio Raheem Passed Away This Morning In His Hometown Of Pittsburgh. Long Live […]
Like many folks, I’m still shocked and saddened about the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman yesterday. He left us too soon. Writers across the web have been paying tribute by taking a look at some of his most iconic film roles. But as a long-time observer of the clandestine art of unlicensed radio, I […]
One of the recurring topics of discussion around podcasts is the fact that it seems like a relatively small number of people actually listen to them, especially compared to the audience for videos of cats playing the theremin. Comedian and podcaster Graham Elwood told me, “I feel like podcasting (now) is kind of like Rock […]
Radio Survivor readers should already be aware of the love we express for New Jersey’s non-commercial freeform radio powerhouse WFMU. Although the station may not be as popular or highly rated as a top commercial station, it has many admiring listeners, who themselves are productive and creative. Filmmaker Tim Smith is one such fan, who […]
I’m one of those geeks who does TiVo searches using “radio” as my key word in order to ensure that I’m not missing an interesting radio-themed pop cultural moment. For some reason this week’s television listings offered up a bounty of radio nuggets, from the classic 1990 teen angst film Pump Up the Volume, to […]
Just when people think that radio is dead, there are signs of it continuing to reinvent itself in interesting ways. The morning news today (on both KTVU’s “Mornings on Two” television broadcast and in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle) brought word of an innovative art installation taking place over the Thanksgiving holiday at […]
It’s always fun for me to see how radio gets portrayed in popular culture and I often revel in all of the inaccuracies. David Silver as a high school, college, and commercial radio DJ on the original Beverly Hills, 90210 was always a treat to watch and make fun of. DJ David Silver would rap […]
