The Internet Breathes New Life into Radio!
July 18, 2007 at 9:00 pm by Chris
Many that know me as an Project Manager at Newfangled probably do not know that I actually studied and received my BFA in film-making at RISD. I ended up in that course of study mostly due to my passion for audio recording and experimentation, and a hope that film-making would give me a context to apply that passion in diverse ways. (How I ended up working in web-development is a winding tale indeed, just like the one that explains how I actually began my time at RISD by declaring Painting as my major! What was that all about???)Though my days are not spent working and exploring audio technology, it still remains an interest of mine. In fact, I believe that one of the greatest things to come out of internet technology has been the revitalization of radio as a creative and educational tool. Really, using the word radio at this point is a bit of a misnomer, given that those cool podcasts we listen to are not delivered via radio waves. However, many of them still find a home on the actual radio, so, for now anyway, Radio lives! But, it really is the internet that has made radio an even stronger and popular media format by giving us the ability to access programming that would have been easily out of range when we relied on radio towers to receive it. Case in point: while living in Malaysia, I was still able to 'tune in' daily to one of my favorite NPR programs, On Point. I even called in to the program using Skype! Ah, the glories of technology... Speaking of NPR, while podcasting has created a means for anyone to create audio programming, it seems that public radio groups like NPR, PRI and American Public Media have really taken it to the next level. Some of the programs sponsored by public radio are not only creative, interesting, informative and inspiring, they even take their craft to an art level. This brings me to my hidden agenda in writing this post: I really want to recommend Radio Lab, a weekly show produced by WNYC that creatively explores scientific topics that make for informative and accessible education for anyone at the same time as being an exhilarating feast for the ears. (Did I really write that?) This show is produced with a level of imagination and quality that I haven't experienced in any other audiocast. Recent shows have included 'Mortality,' 'Memory and Forgetting,' 'Zoos,' 'Sleep,' and 'Who am I?' Check this one out- it's too good to miss! |
Tags: audio blogging
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