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Published on Monday, 21 May 2012 14:47
After a long absence from the Internet, WBEZ-FM is helping to bring back the popular podcast "Love + Radio" this week. The eclectic show, now funded by Chicago Public Media and created in the WBEZ-FM studios for the first time, has made six new episodes, which will start to be heard regularly, starting Wednesday.
Created in October 2005, but launched in its current format in 2010, "Love + Radio" features in-depth interviews and stories from a wide range of subjects, with each show sticking to a central theme. In addition to being heard its
own website and via
iTunes, "Love + Radio" was also part of NPR's podcast series nationally until 2009, and more recently on PRX's podcast distribution. A handful of public radio stations across America have played edited versions of the show. The producers behind "Love + Radio" were quite proud that their show was the only NPR podcast to be marked with an "explicit" content warning label.
(Despite being spelled out as "Love
plus Radio," the show's title is pronounced as "Love
and Radio.")
Late last year, the "L+R" show was awarded the Gold Award honor for Best Documentary by the Third Coast International Audio Festival/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition, which honors the best new stories produced around the world for radio and the Internet. The award was for the episode entitled "The Wisdom of Jay Thunderbolt," which featured an interview with a stay-at-home strip club manager. "L+R" was the first podcast to ever win the Gold Award in the Third Coast Festival competition (often described as the "Sundance of public radio").
The man behind "Love + Radio" is Chicago native Nick van der Kolk. He previously created the "L+R" podcasts while living and working out east in Boston, MA and New York, NY. A few years ago, van der Kolk returned back home to the Windy City to begin working for Chicago Public Media, primarily as a producer for Vocalo.
In a statement, Nick van der Kolk said: "'Love + Radio' introduces audiences to voices they would almost never hear anywhere else, oftentimes dealing with sensationalized subjects in a non-sensationalized way. For instance, this season includes interviews with an investigative journalist who escaped from drug addiction and ties to the mafia in order to help expose corporate malfeasance at Enron, and a blues musician who may or may not be the uncredited writer of 'Bad to the Bone' (and maybe also discovered Whitney Houston... maybe)."
The six new podcast episodes, which are part of the long-awaited third season for "Love + Radio," is being funded by WBEZ-FM for the first time. Also for the first time, the podcasts are now being produced in the WBEZ-FM studios.
The new "L+R" podcasts will be heard first on WBEZ-FM's website at
WBEZ.org/Podcasts, starting this Wednesday, May 23rd.
In addition to debuting Season 3 of "L+R" on WBEZ's website on Wednesday, "L+R" will be having a two-city launch party to celebrate the new season. At roughly the same time, a party will be held in Chicago and New York. The Chicago party will be taking place at High Concept Laboratories (1401 W. Wabansia Ave., Chicago) on Saturday, May 26th, from 6:00pm until approximately 9:00pm. There will be an audio "screening" of the podcast, followed by a question & answer session, as well as a reception. "Love + Radio" director Nick van der Kolk and producer Sarah Lu will be in attendance at the Chicago party, while sound designer Brendan Baker will be live at the New York City (Brooklyn) party. The "L+R" creators will be communicating at both parties simultaneously via video conferencing. The parties are open to the public.
