WBAI-FM’s Local Station Board has passed a sweeping resolution calling on the New York City based listener sponsored station to cut down on its fund drives and build up its audience. The resolution, passed on Wednesday, asks WBAI management to produce “concrete plans” to drop on-air fundraising days by 40 percent over the next three […]
Tag Archives | WBAI
Doug Henwood’s Radio Days
Doug Henwood of the Left Business Observer is one of my favorite people in the world of arts, letters, and radio. A brilliant and entertaining critic of neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism, and neo-crackpotism, Henwood is the author of Wall Street and After the New Economy—the latter a remarkable analysis of the dot-com-bomb phenomenon. Doug is long associated […]
Thanksgiving Radio: Alice’s Restaurant, the Beatles, and Radio Drama
Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide. Every year on Thanksgiving a number of stations all over the United States air the 18 minute plus song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie. Here in San Francisco, KFOG (104.5FM San Francisco/97.7FM San Jose) has been honoring that tradition for many years […]
Can Al Jazeera save Pacifica radio?
The Washington Post reports what everybody involved in the Pacifica radio network has known for years, that the foundation’s staff are in conversation with Al Jazeera to broadcast the service over its five listener supported stations. I don’t know whether the discussions are going anyplace, but it’s obviously a great idea, so of course it […]
Radio Survivor's Top Radio Shows – Matthew's #3: Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez’s radio/TV program Democracy Now! is, without question, the most successful media vehicle in the history of the United States Left. Launched at Pacifica station WBAI-FM in New York City in the mid-1990s, it is now an independent venture, subscribed to by over 800 radio, TV, and Internet stations around the […]
Radio Survivor’s top radio shows – Matthew’s #5: Joe Frank, Work-in-Progress
I forget when I first started listening to Joe Frank. The other problem is that his half-hour to hour long programs are so weird that one can’t trust one’s memory about them. I mean, I think I remember an episode about a hysterical waiter who, after a long tirade, vomits on his patrons, a furious […]
Remembering Save KPFA Day
Ten years ago this Friday, one of the most remarkable events in the annals of United States broadcasting took place. Looking back on it now, I can hardly believe that it happened, even though I was there and saw it myself. On a very sunny Saturday July 31, 1999, about ten thousand people gathered in […]