The Best Show on WFMU, Tom Scharpling's hilarious radio show/podcast, holds an annual pledge drive every March to keep the show and its independent, listener-supported station, WFMU, afloat. This year's fundraising marathon, TomThon 2013, kicks off tonight at 9pm Eastern on WFMU and goes till midnight. You can listen live on WFMU.org or on the radio at 91.1 in New York or 90.1 in the Hudson Valley. Julie Klausner will be joining Scharpling in the studio tonight, and next Tuesday's show will be the second part of the big pledge drive. To pledge, email your name, address, and amount to toms@wfmu.org during the show tonight. Here's the prizes that are in [...]
You probably know Jean Shepherd as the narrator and writer of A Christmas Story, the 1983 Yuletide comedy which is (over)played every holiday, and has become such a beloved classic that it’s easy to forget how cynical it is. But as fans never get tired of explaining, there is a lot more to Jean Shepherd than that.
The reason so many people remain interested in Jean Shepherd, the reason the guy has inspired scarily-detailed websites and a full-length biography, is not because of one yuletide film. It’s his work on radio. He also wrote books, articles, and other films—but the best way to experience Shepherd was to hear [...]
Alec Baldwin has a new radio show where he'll interview artists and policymakers. Here's the Thing will explore "what motivates his guests, how they feel about what they do and what keeps them up at night." On the one hand, it's a absolutely awesome to showcase more honest conversations that explore topics beyond the usual interview fare.
On the other, more cynical hand, it kiiinda feels like Alec Baldwin is "preparing for life after 30 Rock" (the Associated Press said it! Not me! 30 Rock will never die!) by copying Marc Maron's WTFPod and applying it to a broader group of interviewees. On the third hand, [...]
This is genius, right? Apparently Pandora's new comedy stations will give listeners the same personalized listening experience they've offered for music, without the risk of accidentally having sex to Paul Simons' "You Can Call Me Al" when both of you are too lazy to turn it off. Users can pick from Pandora's comedy genre stations such as PG Comedy, Political Comedy, Urban Comedy, etc., or search by specific comedian name. When I tried it out, the station designated Today's Comedy first pulled up Louis C.K.'s "I Hate Deer" bit, which segued into Chris Rock's "Off The Pole". It would be interesting to know how each comedian and [...]
