NCPR’s New Children

Launching new programs on NCPR is a lot like having a baby. As program director/content manager at NCPR I think all the time about what you hear on the radio. What’s working, what’s grown tiresome, what new and intriguing content has come along that I think listeners might fall in love with. So after lots of listening and deliberating and listening some more and asking friends and colleagues what they think and making folks listen to auditions and wondering some more, I’m pleased to announce some new shows and a few changes in our on-air schedule. The whole process is kind of like welcoming a new child after a very long labor, a labor of love. I’m thrilled to announce these new babies, and hope you’ll find them as enchanting as I have.

One of public radio’s most innovative and popular shows, the award-winning This American Life, can now be heard twice each week on NCPR. It continues to air Sundays at noon, but now the Sunday broadcasts are repeated the following Friday at 1 pm. If you miss it on Sundays, you now have a second chance, each Friday afternoon.

We are launching our 12th locally hosted music program, Fridays 8 to 9pm: Another Playlist with Summer Dorr features an original blend of music including singer-songwriter, electro-folk, alternative country, and experimental. Each hour will also include a segment called “Musician on Music” featuring Chris Clarke of the regionally-based band Swimming in Speakers. Summer Dorr is a North Country resident and a lifelong music lover. She is also an independent filmmaker, and is working on her MFA in Creative Writing. Summer’s music selections may be new to you, but I think you’ll enjoy her unique mix. Friday nights beginning at midnight, it’s the warm and mellow sounds of Jim Wilke with Jazz After Hours. You can now enjoy great jazz on NCPR all night Friday and Saturday nights.

The Met Opera Matinee season has ended, so we return to our warmer weather companions: American Routes with Nick Spitzer airs Saturdays from 1 to 3 pm. This week’s show hits the road with story and song, including interviews with Roseanne Cash and Arlo Guthrie. The Moth Radio Hour, humorous, heartbreaking and poignant tales, told live on stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment, was a big hit when we aired the first five episodes last year. Now it’s back with five new and wonderful hours, Wednesdays at 1pm and Saturdays at 3pm. On this week’s show: a prisoner in a small town lock-up gets sprung on a promise; a man desperate for a cure for depression travels to Africa to try a tribal remedy; and novelist/screenwriter Richard Price (Clockers, Lush Life, The Wire) gets a lesson in interrogation in the back of a NYC cop car.

And there’s our new Saturday morning show, Bob Edwards Weekend, features the iconic voice of the guy who used to host Morning Edition. His new show focuses on ideas and the arts and interviews with interesting people, as well as music segments. I think it’s a perfect way to start Saturdays, 6 to 8am.

I hope you’ll tune in and say what you think.

Good listening.