LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS
WNYC's Iconic Station ID First Broadcast in 1938
"New York City is entering the international lists to combat the flood of European radio propaganda in South America, The New York Journal American learned today. With both Italy and Germany bombarding the South American countries with Fascist propaganda, station WNYC will join other American stations in broadcasting the advantages of democracy. A weekly series of half-hour broadcasts, extending 'good will greetings' to South America, will be sent out from WNYC via the General Electric short wave station W3XAF at Schenectady. The first program will go on the air tomorrow at 6 p.m…Each program will end with the statement: 'This program comes from WNYC, New York City's own station, where seven-and-a-half million people, who have come from all parts of the world, are now living in peace and enjoying the benefits of democracy.' "
Source: The New York JournalAmerican, May 26, 1938 [Emphasis added]. Editor's Note: After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the phrase "in peace" was removed until the end of the war.
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In the mid-1960s the Queens College School of General Studies offered a radio course in 26 broadcasts by Rudi Blesh called Dimensions of Jazz. The production over WNYC was by Frank J. Kahn. We've recently acquired the loose-leaf course guide but we'd love to locate the broadcasts. Suggestions anyone?
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Listen to Sun Ra from 1981 at the Whitney Museum.
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The Unauthorized NPR Cautionary Tales: A Radio Creature Feature. This week: The Letter A.
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In the May, 1944 WQXR Program Guide Composer Roy Harris writes about American, or in his words, "native American" composers finally getting the recognition they deserve. Read it at: HARRIS.
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