Ellinger, Jim: What is Community Radio

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Community Radio is one of the most personal forms of radio.  It exists world-wide and provides basic information in times of crises and normalcy.

Jim Ellinger, of Austin Airwaves (http://austinairwaves.blogspot.com/), is our guest in this edition of Radio Curious. He is known for his lifelong fascination with the medium of radio.

In describing Austin Airwaves Ellinger wrote:  It is an independent community media group based in Austin, TX. In recent years it has been most involved in establishing and developing community-based FM radio stations, both low and full power. Increasingly these stations have been in developing nations including Haiti, Borneo, Panama, Mozambique, and most-recently Cameroon, as well as in post-disaster communities in the United States, including New Orleans and Houston, post-Katrina and Wimberley, Texas, after a deadly flood.

As is revealed on Ellinger’s website, austinairwaves.blogspot.com, he now “spends much of his time and effort assisting a variety of media, co-op and business groups around the world. Ellinger has visited more than 100 cities in 25 countries and territories since 9/11.” He is an international leader in emergency broadcasting technology for disaster management.

When Jim Ellinger visited with Radio Curious by phone from his home in Austin, Texas, he began by telling the story of when he first became involved with radio.

The book Jim Ellinger recommends is “The Man Who Planted Trees: A Story of Lost Groves, the Science of Trees, and a Plan to Save the Planet,” by Jim Robbins.

This program was recorded on November 17, 2018.

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Freed, Lynn: Reflections on a Life

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The personal journal is often not meant for the eyes of anyone but the writer. When a stranger’s journal is read, the reader often becomes a voyeur to the innermost secrets of another. And whether it is a true journal or one of fiction, who cares? Often, it remains a good story. Lynn Freed, originally of Durban, South Africa, wrote the fictional journal of Agnes LaGrange, entitled “The Mirror,” which reveals the thoughts, feelings, and loves of Agnes, starting when she arrived in South Africa to work as a housekeeper, and ending 50 years later.
Lynn Freed recommends “Misfit,” by Jonathan Yardly, “Essays,” by George Orwell & “Last Days in Cloud Cukooland Dispatches,” by Graham Boynton.

Originally Broadcast: December 12, 1997

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Fuller, Alexandra: Growing Up White in Africa

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In the late summer of 2003 Radio Curious visited with Alexandra Fuller who, as a child lived in Rhodesia, Malawi and Zambia in southeast Africa between 1972 and 1990.  After her father sided with the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, he was often away from home.   Fuller’s resilient and self-sufficient mother immersed herself in their rural and rugged life. She taught her children to have strong wills and opinions, and to whole-heartedly embrace life, despite and because of their difficult circumstances.  Alexandra Fuller, author of “Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood,” known as Bobo to her family, developed a love of reading and story telling early on in her life.

When I spoke with Alexandra Fuller in September 2003 her home was in rural Wyoming.  We visited by phone and began our conversation when I asked her how she choose the title for her book, “Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood.”

The book Alexandra Fuller recommends is “Echoing Silences,” by Alexander Canigone.

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Freedman, Dr. Estelle: History of Feminism

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The place of women in the world and in the American society has changed in many aspects in the recent past.  Many people say this is due to the politics of feminism, and some inquire where it will lead.
I spoke with Professor Estelle B. Freedman by phone in April 2002 and asked her to talk about why feminism did not evolve as people evolved and civilization developed.

The books Professor Freedman recommends are “The Blind Assassin” by Margaret Atwood, and “The Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler.

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