I am at the point when recalling events from my childhood feels like digging up another historical epoch. Nonetheless, if I do not attempt the memory excavation now, when will I get around to it? So here I ponder a question that has poked at me for many years: what was that strange music that […]
Jennifer Waits takes us on tours of two storied college stations, with deep roots in their communities. WIIT-FM is the student station at the Illinois Institute of Technology, housed in the modern Rem Koolhaas designed McCormick Tribune Campus Center situated at the intersection of Chicago’s Bronzeville and Bridgeport neighborhoods. WKCR is Columbia University’s station, with […]
On a rainy New York City day this spring, I headed to Morningside Heights in upper Manhattan for a visit to Columbia University’s college radio station WKCR 89.9 FM. The 76-year-old station has a deep respect for its history and I was delighted to see numerous reel-to-reel players, an entire room full of vintage audio […]
The FCC just ruled that radio stations will have to upload their public files into an online database, making certain records much more accessible. We discuss what this means for both stations and listeners, and why, even though it seems like an extra burden, this can be a good thing for college and community radio. […]
Radio Survivor’s podcast resumed this week after a break for the winter holidays. In this brand new episode, I give an overview of the state of college radio in 2015. It’s worth a listen, particularly if you missed my 2015 college radio year-in-review article. My segment starts at about the 60 minute mark. Also this […]
Last week I wrote about the fun collection of vintage college radio playlists that I came across from the 1970s and 1980s. That post prompted some interesting responses from former college radio DJs and current college radio programmers, sharing some of their tales and also word that other playlist collections are out there. This week […]
In the provocative piece, Why College Radio Still Matters, Columbia College junior Torsten Odland dissects the role of the college radio DJ today, comparing it with the presumed pinnacle of college radio DJ influence in the 1980s. A DJ himself at Columbia College radio station WKCR-FM, Odland explains that he had a particular archetype of […]
