[Al] State of the Re:UNION

In the immortal words of Christopher Walken “Wowwweee Wow Wow”. Everyone brought their A-game to this segment. As I first listened to each one, I started to sweat, (I do this every time cause all of the contestant have been formidable.) But this round we got to flex our muscles a little bit, and it felt good to finally hear what has been in the back of all the contestant’s minds. I’d love to hear all of these shows on the radio. They all bring something new to the mix. That being said, only three will move forward, so I figured I’d give you a little fuel to help you understand my concept.

State of the Re:UNION is just that, it’s a statement on where we as a nation stand in the Herculean effort to bring this country back together. Who knows where it started, but slowly the binding that held this republic together has been loosened. We can ignore it, and go about our day and watch the strands untwine, or each of us to find away to rebind it, bring it back together. This shows' goal it to be bridge that connects red states, blue states and everyone in between, by reminding us all that we are all Americans and more importantly human beings. Every week we’ll go to a different city and learn about the cities art and culture. We’ll do interviews with artists, play only local musicians in the breaks, and give a good cultural map of each town we visit. A major component of the show will feature two stories; one about people coming together, and another about people being pulled apart. I think it’s important if the goal of this show is to bring people together, that we not only look at what’s going right, but we shine a light on what isn’t working, and how we can make it better.

How? How will I put together a show like this every week? It seems pretty massive right? Very simply the key is, You. You the listener will help create the show. State of the Re:UNION will need a very interactive website, that will act as a virtual community of a sorts where people will post info about their cities. Why should we come to your city? What’s going on there that the rest of the country needs to know about? I envision that people will be able to post youtube clips, audio, and short essays about their hometowns. It’s important that the show reaches outside of the confines of radio, and goes into everyday-people’s homes. We seek out the stories that haven’t been told, we don’t wait for them to appear we look for them and we empower the listening public to take part in that search.

I don’t know much about the NPR system, but I’m hoping it’s possible to partner with the local affiliate when we are working on a story in their city. (Affiliates will have a direct line to suggest stories and ideas) Additionally, (this is also something I know little about) I know there’s the NextGen radio program and with all of those newly trained NPR types, why not uses them to act as correspondents in different cities? This creates a network of contributors that would strengthen the show and take the whole concept into something that is very local/grass roots, but at the same time have national resonance.

There is so much pulling us apart, and yet there is so much we have in common. That is the power, the highest common denominator is the only way we will become a strong union. Radio can be a medium for change, and if change is what’s needed let it start with us and spread it to the rest of the country. (and then the world, but that another show!)

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