Monday, July 7, 2008

Philosophy Profs Chat on Public Radio's KALW

The LA Times ran a cool article profiling "Philosophy Talk," a show run by two philosophy professors on San Francisco public radio station KALW-FM. According to the article:

"...Ken Taylor and John Perry...dissect life's big mysteries on 'Philosophy Talk,' believed to be America's only live weekly call-in radio show dedicated to the philosophical.

In this celebrity-soaked era, when Americans seem to spend more time pondering whether Britney Spears' underwear exists than whether God does, these two Stanford philosophy professors take on everything from the weighty to the winsome."

It's always fun to hear about shows like this, which can only really exist on non-commercial radio.

P.S. KALW has a very interesting and lengthy history in educational and non-commercial radio. Although they are now financially independent, they still have a strong relationship with their licensee, the San Francisco Unified School District, are housed at a San Francisco high school, and receive some support from the district. According to their website,

"When broadcast began in March of 1941 on the fourth floor of Gompers Trades School, KALW became the first FM station in San Francisco, the first educational FM station in the United States, the first non-commercial FM station west of the Mississippi, and the second one in the nation."

It's kind of sad that I live in San Francisco and was completely unaware of their history until today. Do you know anything about radio history in your town?

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