Amazon.com Widgets In light of the 70th anniversary of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System’s (IBS) annual conference last weekend, it’s a good time to reflect on the college radio pioneers who rarely get mentioned in radio history discussions. My fascination with the early days of college radio began when I started diving into the history of […]
Archive | History
NPR listeners: Apology for Howard Zinn obit not accepted
It has been two weeks since National Public Radio more or less apologized for its controversial All Things Considered obituary of the historian Howard Zinn, and the bitter listener comments are still coming in. “I have read your post on the Zinn Obit and find it to be wordy gobbledeegook,” a listener responded several days […]
Listening to Howard Zinn
Amazon.com Widgets Prominent historian and activist Howard Zinn passed away last week on January 27, 2010, at the age of 87 years old. Best known for his book A People’s History of the United States, which has sold almost two million copies to date, Zinn wrote history from the “bottom-up.” I had the pleasure of […]
The Death of Air America: It's the Ownership, Stupid!
Conservative commentators may be cackling about the failure of Air America radio, trying to make it into an indicator for both the inherent weakness of liberal-leaning radio and liberal politics. But any reasoned analysis of the radio industry demonstrates that neither is the case. Rush Limbaugh, in particular, and the rest of the nation’s most […]
Radio-Themed Book Art Exhibit and Vintage Radio Print Ads
It’s hard for me to resist the lure of vintage books and I was pleased to see that our friend Feliks Banel posted a online exhibit called Radio with Pictures: Iconic Cover Art from Books about Radio on his I STILL Love Radio blog. Feliks is a radio historian, so he’s managed to curate a […]
Locating Martin Luther King Jr. speeches – audio and text
Amazon.com Widgets In honor of the upcoming holiday, I’ve compiled some different ways to access some of MLK’s influential speeches. If you’re interested in reading some of King’s speeches online, the King Center, which hosts the King Papers, has many of King’s speeches sorted chronologically, providing mp3 and written versions. Plain written copies of some […]
The decade's most important radio trends: #14 Pacifica radio democratizes itself
#14 in our series on crucial radio trends of the decade.
The Decade’s Most Important Radio Trends
Myself, I can hardly believe that another decade is coming to a close. It seems like just yesterday we were stockpiling canned goods, bottled water and batteries in anticipation of the Y2K global computer meltdown. Of course, on every millennial survivalists’ compound shopping list was a good battery-operated radio. Now, ten years on, radio has […]
Fairness Doctrine for Stalin on Russian radio?
A Russian radio station is being sued for disrespecting the memory of Josef Stalin. “What kind of bastard would be brave enough to say one word in his defense?” the host asked. Let’s start with Russia’s Prime Minister.
Radio Obsessive Profile #4: Seattle Radio Theatre Founder Feliks Banel
Radio passion takes a variety of forms. Some people love the artifacts and become avid collectors of vintage equipment, promotional materials, and publications. Some are scholars, meticulously curating radio’s history. And others seek out present-day radio gems in order to remind people that radio is still relevant. Seattle Radio Theatre founder Feliks Banel’s enthusiasm for […]