Reflections on Talk Radio

worth 2% of course grade 

due Sept. 29

In class we watched Prometheus Radio's What would you do with a community radio station? and listened to the KPPC story on WFUN and WHHL's programming shift in response to the Police shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and listened to KCRW's fundraiser drive. We also talked about media biases and corporate funding/control of content vs. independent media's freedom, the use of low powered FM & ham radio broadcasting during natural disasters and political protests. To continue this disccusion watch or listen to one of the links below and let us know what you think about it and pose a question for the group to discuss.

KCRW's Talk Radio Programs (scroll to bottom of page for list of programs to choose from)

Democracy Now! "Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez... Democracy Now!’s War and Peace Report provides our audience with access to people and perspectives rarely heard in the U.S.corporate-sponsored media, including independent and international journalists, ordinary people from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and independent analysts."

The Prison Show "....a live radio program airing Fridays at 9pm Central Time on KPFT FM 90.1 Houston, streaming at www.kpft.org... the first hour to discuss issues of interest to convicts. The second hour features shout-outs from family and friends in the free world to their loved ones behind bars."

This American Life "This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 2.1 million listeners...There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always."

Coast to Coast KFI 640am "Coast to Coast AM airs on more than 600 stations in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and Guam, and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners... A media phenomenon, Coast to Coast AM deals with UFOs, strange occurrences, life after death, and other unexplained (and often inexplicable) phenomena."

The Rush Limbaugh Show "conservative American radio talk show host and political commentator." "highest radio talk-radio-program in the United States." (Rush Limbaugh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

A Prairie Home Companion a live radio variety show from American Public Media

Radio Lab "... a show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience."

Do you find informative to hear a talk show that speaks about what changes are directly going on in your city? 

Zhikan Tan

I believe that to hear a talk show benefit to the people of LA. I, usually, listen to AM 1430 while I drive. AM 1430 is a Cantonese channel that host by San Gabriel Chinese Radio station. There are many interesting shows about Chinese entertainment, music, news and talk shows. I love to listen to the talk show call The Rode to Sunset at 4pm to 6pm every weekday. This show talks about things and important events which occur not only in the city of Los Angeles, but also all over the world. By listening to the show, the two DJ will bring their  ideas and the audiences' opinions about the events that they are talking about. Audiences will able to know what happen to them, to their city or to the world daily. There are a lot of Chinese immigrants living in Los Angeles. I think this talk show  helps them to know more about the City and the world. Compare to watch TV, I think radio is another good way to get close to our  city when audiences stuck in traffic or do not have time to watch TV.

Talk Show Reflection

Hakob Minasian

Jackelyn asks "Do you find informative to hear a talk show that speaks about what changes are directly going on in your city?"

In response to Jackeyln's question I do agree that listening to a radio talk show about your city is really important. I think everyone should be informed on what decisions are being made in LA. I'm really grateful for how much the radio has talked about the lack of arts in LAUSD. This was something that effected me deeply and I'm glad that it is being talked about as an issue. People need to know whats happening in LA and you cant trust the TV to cover any of that because all they care about is viral cat videos and high speed chases. Radio is the most reliable source of new information if you ask me.

Talk Radio Reflection

Andrea Schmidt

Gabriel asks "What category do you think you fall under, citizen or consumer? Why?" 

I would say that I fall equally under both. As a citizen I feel like it's pertinent to have radio (and other media) that keep me and my fellow friends, Romans and countrymen updated on what's happening in our world, even if I personally don't usually seek it out. The fact that we have so many outlets, including radio broadcasts, that are devoted to disseminating information to the public is a wonderful thing. Regardless of whether it's unbiased or not, it's a definite improvement from where society was hundreds of years ago, where if you didn't live in a metropolitan/otherwise largely populated area, you probably didn't get the big news trickled down to you right away if at all. Or maybe that's just how I picture the Dark Ages...

But back to the topic of being biased vs unbiased, I do think that it's important for our various news outlets to put their own spin on things, to speak to their audience in a way that they'll understand. Now, I'm not saying that they should alter the truth of the matter, but as a consumer I like to consume things that I relate to, that harmonize with my worldview and what I care about. Like attracts like, as they say. So I do think that it's important to give the audience what they want, to a certain extent. 

In short, I want to be informed, I want the truth. But I also want to be entertained, or at least appealed to, and I find it is hard to empathize if something is delivered with complete and utter neutrality. I want to be convinced.

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News Talk Radio Reflection 

Josh Wallace

Gabriel asks "What category do you think you fall under, citizen or consumer? Why?" 

           This is an interesting question. I have thought about this quite often actually, and I semi attribute it to the reason I am here now at Otis studying product design. At some point during high school, I realized pretty dramatically that I was just buying into what everyone else was buying into. Styles, products, music, things I thought were cool. I didn't like the realization. So I had to think of how I could get ahead of this. Beat the system in a way. I thought I had to become a trendsetter, like a popular kid. It didn't take me long to realize that even trendsetters and "popular kids" were still buying into crap someone else was making. So I realized I wanted to be the one making the stuff people would buy into. I didn't care to be the one people looked to for inspiration, I just wanted to supply those types of people with my stuff, be it shoes, bags, designs, or other things. I wanted to have the satisfaction that everyone was buying into this concept, and somehow I would get to be outside of this system. I don't know, it sounds weird written down. So yeah. I mean, currently, I'm still a student, so technically I'm still a consumer. And I will probably always be a consumer in a literal sense. But because I'm going to school, and I'm learning how to design the things people will hopefully buy, I am more acutely aware of this whole "consumerism" thing and can try to avoid it as much as possible. 

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News/Talk Radio Reflection

Jackelyn Bautista

I chose the KCRW as the news talk show because I had gone to Santa Monica College and I would see the sign of the radio station and would always be curious to see how it would be like, and also because I would always fancy the idea of working at a radio station. So without much thought I clicked on KCRW and see what kind of talk shows they had in their archives. I clicked on the one titled, Which Way L.A? Can't California Republicans Just Get Along?. I was actually suprised at how good and infomative this talk show was, yes, they talked about republicans in California but they also talked about numerous stuff that happens in LA. One of these was the mountain lion problem in LA and the little genetic diversity there is here. A while ago on Facebook I saw that an organization wanted to make a huge park over the freeway. I honestly did not like it because we are in a terrible drought and building a park is not such a great idea because it is a massive water waster. However to my suprise this is not a park only for humans, according to the Mountain Lion conservation group, this is a path to allow mountain lions in order for them to spread out and allow them to mate and have the genetic diversity grow and now force them into extinction. In the past these lions would be stuck in the Santa Monica Mountain area and they could not leave due to the 405. If the park were to be fully funded these lions would be able to cross and it would allow them to surivive as a species. The show was so informative and catchy that I kept on listening for the show after that.

Do you find informative to hear a talk show that speaks about what changes are directly going on in your city? 

Fran Almanza

  The radio show I chose to listen to was This American Life. I checked out the live broadcast but it didn't really interest me so I clicked on their archives to see if there were any past shows that would catch my attention. And one did. It was titled "Magic Words" that aired on September 15, 2014. They begin the show by talking about a story that relates to the topic and it's basically about a scene that happened in a court room. Long story short, the couple who was in debt and trying to fight it ended up winning the case with the simple sentence "show me the evidence". What the story is emphasizing is that not many people know that there are words like these, or even actions that can change a situation immediately, almost like a magic spell. Of course, none of this has to do with any witchcraft or magic potions but insteading finding the power within actions or words to change your life - almost like life hacks.  It's something like this that I wouldn't really find in any other mainstream radio show, so I liked how unique this was. Even though I only listened to it for no more than an hour, I was still able to take a lot from it. 

* Do you find radio shows or any type of show like these where it's focused on giving life advice boring/cheesy/helpful?

Vanessa Quintanilla

    When deciding which Radio show link to choose from, I was drawn to the link of This American Life. The mini summary of how each episode had a theme and a variety of stories for it was interesting to see that it would have multiple views on a topic.

    I chose the March 17, 2014 recording from their radio archive. I was drawn to the title, Dead Men Tell No Tales, this show in particularly was a look into the Boston Marathon Bombings, and the weird story of a man who was killed in Florida who was apparently connected to the bombings. The story itself entails the recordings of a reporter, her theories, and the recordings of the people she had talked with, in relation with Ibragim Todashev-the man who was shot seven times in his own living room. The hour show, would fit in examples of strange connections with the FBI and the people who might have been connected to him. One that startled me was the interview with Tatiana Gruzdeva, who was the girlfriend of Ibragim Todashev. It provides a personal touch with Tatiane speaking, you can hear how paranoid, and scared she was. After doing a recording for the reporters radio show that was posted online. She was taken in and was facing deportation. The story goes on to show various examples of people being weirdly handled by authorities like the FBI. This recording definitely raises questions and shows multiple accounts of a weird case.  

Question: Do you think radio shows can have a more truthful and uncovered view on issues that happen, compared to some news stations presented on television who might present information based on their own bias?

Gabriel Rojas

     I picked what to listen to based on the title of and followed up by the description of the station. Democracy Now! and its description of what kind people participate in the station and what kind of news they broadcast. On their website, I saw the headline Capitalism v.s. the Climate. That immediately grabbed my attention for the fact of my interest in the enviornment and the cause of its decline. The date for this show is Thursday September 18th, 2014.

     Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez interviewed Naomi Klein about her new book “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate”. I can say I am a fan of her now for she is a hardcore environmental activist. One thing that fascinated me about her talk is she was not afraid to point out big corporations and their faults. She talks about how corporates have bought out political groups so they can be in favor of big business. According to her, these corporates would be nothing if a new economical system would take place that would favor the masses. A new economical system can take place that would benefit the 99% and the environment and that is what these giant companies are blocking out to take place. What I got from her talk is that change can happen in a micro level and as consumers and citizens we have ultimate power, we just have to know. I don’t quite remember where I heard this, but there is a saying about the difference of being a consumer and a citizen of the world.

Q: What category do you think you fall under, citizen or consumer? Why?

Aziza Jeghir 

I choose to listen to a pod-cast from Radio Lab, a show that I have listened to on occasion before on NPR. What really caught my attention was the description for the show and the subjects it chooses to discuss and evaluate. The story I heard was titled In the Dust of This Planet, told by Jad Abumrad and described as "Horror, fashion, and the end of the world... the undercurrents of thought that link nihilists, philosophers, Jay-Z, and True Detective." Not entirely sure how those topics could be related, I was instantly interested in what the story could be. 

Jad speaks with his brother in-law, Eugene Thacker, an author and professor on philosophy who describes his writing as books for no one to read, as not many people read his otherwise dense, scholarly books. Speaking specifically about his book titled "In the Dust of This Planet," tackling the subject of the 'end of the world' from a nihilist point of view. Or in other words, that nothing has meaning and applying this theory to deconstruct horror films, metal music and similar subjects. Written in 2011, the book comes out with not much fanfare, until a European artist appropriates the cover in a painting. Soon, the image is on high fashion clothing lines, and ultimately ends up on Jay-Z's jacket which he wore in one of his popular music videos. Additionally, the book was a large inspiration to television drama, True Detective. Less than 45 minutes, Jad and Eugene spend the show speaking about these connections, the meaning they hold and interviewing different people, such as Jay-Z's wardrobe dresser coming back to theory and questions nihilism hold. An incredibly interesting show, the participants were engaging and entertaining on how they approached such a broad topic. 

Question: After being made teased of writing books no one reads, Eugene Thacker says he writes books for no one to read, but simply for the sake of writing. With radio, would it be worth while to have the same theory? 

Shane Parton // This American Life

I chose to listen to This American Life. Largely because so many of my friends listen to NPR and are often bringing up something they heard during their daily listen. I myself can not stand talk radio mostly because I have people yapping at me all day long, and it’s not what I seek when turning on the radio. I want to hear music, and sing!

I chose episode #476 of “What Doesn’t Kill You”, which features real stories from people  who have prevailed in the face of tragedy. I fully expected to turn it on and half listen, but I found myself pulled in by the stories and within the first couple minutes all I could do was listen. 

In a world where we’re surrounded by scripted “reality” shows and the happy facade of social media, being real is something that I think we are becoming less and less capable. I really appreciate this program because it not only feels real, it is real. Real people sharing their experiences as they recall them happening. The host is not asking leading questions, or trying to trap them, or frame them in a certain light. There seems to be no bias, just space for people to share.  

I will admit that it weighed a little heavily on me. I’m sure the program is meant to be inspirational, and, sure, I’ll give it that, but it is also emotional, and after listening I felt exhausted. I say this not as a negative, but just as a fact. I believe I will listen to this program again... when I’m not in the mood to sing. 

I guess my question would be does radio allow us to connect with people on a more honest level?  and if so, why?