The three-season podcast is tied to the HBCU Radio Preservation Project (HBCU RPP), a four-year initiative dedicated to documenting and preserving the history and legacy of radio stations at the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The six-episode first season takes a deep dive into various aspects of HBCU radio, from its founding to its present day impact. It will showcase rare archival audio produced by the stations, much of it available to the public for the first time and will feature different perspectives through conversations with station managers, on-air personalities and DJs, community activists, media scholars and HBCU RPP team members.
The series is co-produced by the HBCU RPP and Could Be Pretty Cool, an Atlanta-based production company.
It is hosted by Fran Robinson and Miles Johnson. Robinson is a public relations and marketing professional with extensive experience in video production, script writing and interviewing. She is sought after voiceover talent for video and podcast projects. Johnson is an associate digital producer at Fox Sports and the creator and host of the podcast “Real Talk with MJ”, which covers sports with a special focus on the Philadelphia-area. His podcast has garnered over 65K followers across social media platforms.
“HBCU radio stations are the voice of the institutions and the communities they serve,” said Jocelyn Robinson, founder and director of the HBCU Radio Preservation Project. “This podcast is an innovative approach to telling the story of HBCU radio and why preserving its legacy and history is of vital importance. The impact of HBCU radio as a platform for Black voices and a catalyst for change is far reaching. It was, and continues to be, an integral part of Black history and American history.”
The podcast will be available on all major podcast platforms.
About the HBCU Radio Preservation Project
The HBCU Radio Preservation Project works with radio stations and institutional archives at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) to honor and preserve the rich history and cultural legacy of the stations while fostering an ethos of preservation. Nearly one-third of the 101 HBCUs have radio stations, and many have been on the air for more than 50 years. Much of the material these stations have created, primary source material that documents the rich history and diversity of the Black experience, is at risk of being lost because obsolete formats are deteriorating. Even current digital material is at risk without proper preservation methods. The four-year project will serve all 29 HBCU radio stations. Its replicable model will ultimately be of use to any college radio station, tribal stations, rural stations, and other public and community stations.Project partners include the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB), and the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University.
ABOUT WYSO
WYSO is a nonprofit, community-owned public radio station serving Southwest Ohio with news, music and storytelling. WYSO’s news team provides local news and public affairs programming and is a founding member of The Ohio Newsroom, a formal collaboration of Ohio’s existing network of public radio newsrooms that creates a sustainable model for news coverage. WYSO’s music department produces unique on-air music programs, including the streaming music channel Novaphonic.FM.. WYSO’s Eichelberger Center for Community Voices provides hands-on training in audio production and digital storytelling to storytellers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels.