Dear Listeners,
FM radio was invented in 1933 in a laboratory located in the basement of Philosophy Hall at Columbia University. Three years later, in 1936, Columbia University Radio Club (CURC) was founded, primarily concerned with the technology of radio communications. The first makeshift studio was in John Jay (dorm room 1107), first broadcasting in early 1941. On the tenth of October in 1941, the FCC granted CURC our official license. Eventually, the FCC formalized the requirements surrounding radio broadcasting and we adopted our call letters, WKCR. W, standing for a radio station east of the Mississippi, and KCR, King’s Crown Radio.
Special broadcasting this fall surrounding our 85th anniversary is underway. Stay tuned for shows at the Village Vanguard, Close Up, the Hot Club, Smoke Jazz Club, and a radio play from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. These special broadcasts accompany our annual broadcasting of Ragas Live Festival, a 24-hour celebration of South Asian classical music, live from Pioneer Works, as well as the Columbia Homecoming football game versus Dartmouth College. All dates and times are listed on page 8 of the On Air guide. It’s been a season of excitement and preemption, but our regular programming is still going strong. And through all of this, our team has managed to produce an exciting lineup of writing, including a piece pulled from the On Air archives, for this month’s edition. Thank you for your everlasting support.