Podcast #294 – Reading the PIRATE Act / FCC & the Supremes Pt. 2
The PIRATE Act was signed into law more than a year ago, but the rules governing increased fines for unlicensed broadcasting are about to go into effect on April 26. The Act is intended to give the FCC additional tools for tamping down pirate radio activity in hot beds like Boston and Brooklyn, NY, but […]
Podcast #293 – Exploring Radio Art and Transmission Art
What is radio art? What is transmission art? We discuss the experimental side of radio and artistic uses of radio transmissions on our show this week, looking at historical and contemporary examples. Artist and scholar Anna Friz joins us to chat about these concepts, sharing how her college/community radio past in Canada inspired her to […]
Podcast #292 – The History of Sound Art
What is sound art? And what do we know about its origin story? We explore this question and more with our guest this week, artist and educator Judy Dunaway. An adjunct professor in the History of Art Department at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Dunaway’s recent article, “The Forgotten 1979 MoMA Sound Art Exhibition,” […]
The Wetland Project Returns for Earth Day 2021
Non-commercial radio stations will join together to air 24 hours of the circadian rhythm emanating from the ṮEḴTEḴSEN marsh in unceded W̱SÁNEĆ territory on Saturna Island, British Columbia this coming Earth Day, April 22. Produced by artists Brady Marks and Mark Timmings, the “Wetland Project” broadcast features a soundscape of birds, frogs, airplanes and more […]
Podcast #291 – The New Adventures of Super Indian
A super hero comic is at the heart of The New Adventures of Super Indian, a forthcoming audio drama from Native Voices at the Autry. Our guests on the show include Super Indian’s creator, playwright and director, Arigon Starr (an enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma) and artistic director DeLanna Studi (an enrolled […]
Podcast #290 – Aimee Semple McPherson and the Early History of Radio Evangelists
One of the biggest celebrities in Los Angeles in the early part of the 20th century was Aimee Semple McPherson. She inspired scandalous headlines and fictional depictions, including the character Sister Molly on the Showtime series, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and Sister Alice McKeegan on the 2020 HBO reboot of Perry Mason. Yet the […]
Podcast #289 – Celebrating Women in Sound
In honor of Women’s History Month, this week’s episode focuses on women in sound. Our guests, Jennifer Hyland Wang and Jenny Stoever, return to the show to discuss sound studies, the cultural politics of listening, the history of women’s voices on the airwaves and on podcasts, as well as broader issues of representation. Jennifer Hyland […]
Podcast #288 – Eagle vs. Transmitter
This week we share more evidence of how broadest radio is an important informational lifeline and human connection for so many people. As most of the country enters year two of the pandemic, we catch up again with Becky Meiers, General Manager of community radio station KCAW-FM in Sitka, Alaska. We last spoke with Becky […]
Celebrating Women in Sound on International Women’s Day
Happy International Women’s Day! Every day I’m inspired by my female colleagues around the world who are passionate about radio, sound, and audio. From college radio DJs to sound studies scholars to radio historians to engineers to station owners to high school podcasters to teachers and station advisers; it’s a community that enriches our lives […]
Time Is Running Out for FrankenFMs – Just 4 Months Left
The clock is still ticking for FrankenFMs, legacy analog low-power TV stations broadcasting on channel 6 with signals heard at 87.7 FM, on the far left end of the dial. The FCC has determined all analog television signals must convert to digital by July 13 of this year, and just issued a public notice reminding broadcasters of […]