The Means of Production - Episode 10
The Means of Production - Episode 10 by pipelinepodcast.org
End of the Line
My latest project is a new audio documentary presenting the full and complete origin story of WRIR and community powered radio in Richmond, VA. As WRIR celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025, we're celebrating the media activists, radio rebels and just everyday Richmond people who shaped WRIR. Featuring voices of the station's original founding members, DJ's, show hosts, producers and volunteers. Limited series airing on WRIR-LP 97.3 FM every First Friday at 9am following Democracy Now!
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The Means of Production - Episode 9
The Means of Production - Episode 9 by pipelinepodcast.org
The Means of Production - Episode 8
The Means of Production - Episode 8 by pipelinepodcast.org
The Means of Production - Episode 7
If you're wondering how WRIR has changed Richmond in the last 20 years, look no further than the legacy of their local news and talk programming. In this almost final episode of the series, we're taking a look at WRIR's impact on Richmond through the example of one of its longest running local - and live - talk shows, The Defenders Live, with host Ana Edwards. For over 20 years, Ana has made…
The Means of Production - Episode 6
After 20 years on the air, it's easy to forget that WRIR's existence wasn't always a matter of course. Were it not for a serendipitous mix of people and circumstances, WRIR likely wouldn't exist at all. With just three months left on their FCC deadline, their biggest make or break hurdles were still in front of them. And future DJ Dustin Richardson was eagerly waiting to put his energy and kitchen…
The Means of Production - Episode 5
Like any project that takes the cooperation of many hands, building a community radio station is really, really hard work. WRIR was not the only LPFM station getting started in the 2000s that ran into road bumps along the way. With 18 months to get on the air, Radio Free Richmond was a "work in progress" almost until their FCC deadline. In this episode, we meet the space that would one day become…
The Means of Production - Episode 4
Do we know how Richmond's independent community radio station really came to exist? From a country station out of Hampton Roads to George W. Bush, to the many people drawn to the Radio Free Richmond project, we're continuing to break down the strange alchemy of factors contributing to WRIR's existence, and how close they came to never making it to the air. Original air date: July 4, 2025 Also…
The Means of Production - Episode 3
In this episode, we learn how FCC Chairman William Kennard was convinced by the radio pirates to open up the FM airwaves for communities to start their own low power radio stations, and why the major broadcasters were so opposed to the concept of low power community radio. Original air date: May 2, 2025 Also airing on WRIR-LP 97.3 FM every First Friday at 9am right after Democracy Now! Stream…
The Means of Production - Episode 2
In Episode 2, we travel back to the Richmond of the 80s and 90s, a time of experimentation and pushing the boundaries in local art, music, and independent radio. We hear from radio pirates in Richmond and beyond who were bucking the FCC’s corporate controlled media and how their actions inspired a growing movement to put the public back into “public airwaves.” We also learn more about what…
The Means of Production - Episode 1
Welcome to Richmond, Virginia’s “radio wasteland” - a dark time for music lovers and talk radio aficionados alike. It was a time of “tinned and programmed” playlists, a desert of “homogenous sound” on airwaves across the country. In this bleak desert, a band of media activists came together to create a radio oasis, a community radio station “for the rest of us” that would eventually become WRIR-LP…