Walter Benjamin radio diary: mailbag #1
Who knew that Walter Benjamin would generate this much correspondence?
Podcast #202 – Small Boosts Proposed for LPFM & Why Aren’t There College Stations on the Dial in San Diego?
The FCC just proposed a series of changes to help make it easier for low-power FM stations to move their transmitters and to fill in weak signal areas. We review this proposal along with a suggestion from the Commission to whittle away at protections for the few dozen remaining analog low-power TV channel 6 stations, […]
College Radio Watch: Radio Orientation and More News
What if college radio was an integral part of every student’s college orientation activities? Sounds amazing to me. This week I learned about Hamilton College’s mandatory “orientation trips,” which provide students with an immersion into various topics and activities as part of their transition to college life. One of the 4-day trips, Stay “Tuned”, focuses […]
Don’t Waste Your Money on that Bluetooth Cassette Player Kickstarter
Last week – coincident with the original Walkman’s 40th birthday – I saw all these articles reporting on this supposedly “world’s first” Bluetooth enabled portable Walkman-style cassette player/recorder, named IT’S OK (yes, the brand is in all caps). Reactions to this Kickstarter ranged from snarky to excited, but all the coverage struck me as a […]
Podcast #201 – A Fantasy FCC Serves the Public Interest
A different media world is possible. What if the FCC truly regulated in the public interest, creating policies and services that promoted community voices and civic values? It does happen occasionally, but not often enough. It’s easy to assume our media system turned out this way because it was inevitable, but in truth it was […]
College Radio Watch: 200th Podcast, Our ‘Zine + College Radio News
It’s been a decade that I’ve been covering college radio on Radio Survivor, which was one of the topics that we discussed on our 200th episode of the podcast/radio show this week. It was a treat to have another rare episode with all four Radio Survivor principals: Matthew Lasar, Paul Riismandel, Eric Klein and myself. […]
Walter Benjamin radio diary entry #2: “the downside of radio.”
“Maybe someday I’ll meet one of you there,” Walter Benjamin once said to his radio listeners. “But we won’t recognize each other.” Was Benjamin right about that?
Podcast #200 – How We Survived a Decade of Independent Publishing
Radio Survivor celebrates 10 years on the internet and four years podcasting with our 200th episode. Matthew Lasar joins Jennifer Waits, Eric Klein and Paul Riismandel for this review of the last decade in radio that matters. Matthew tells the Radio Survivor origin story that sprang forth from his I.F. Stone inspired research deep into […]
We’re Making a ‘Zine for Our Supporters
We wanted to find a special way to thank the readers and listeners who support us every month via our Patreon campaign. Something unique, hand-made and in the spirit of great college and community radio. Why not make a ‘zine? If you’ve never heard of a ‘zine, it’s an independently produced publication, often photocopied and […]
Reflections on the Walkman and Radio on the Occasion of the Former’s 40th Birthday
The Sony Walkman celebrated its 40th birthday on Monday, July 1. While portable audiocassette recorder/players that you could connect to headphones had been around pretty much since the invention of the medium, the Walkman was the first one designed specifically for stereo playback on the go, for personal listening, without even a tiny speaker. Although […]