Sounding The Alarm via some Radio Retaliation

The Alarm's Done Been Sounding 

And it has been for quite some time, though obviously at frequencies most people haven’t been attuned to, whether by nature or by training.  Or perhaps more accurately, by conditioning.  As the conditions for effectively understanding the situation we’re collectively facing today have been cultivated for a long, long time. 



Understanding the conditions 

Conditioning the understanding



We’re in a full court press of danger with the fascist tide, and unfortunately Benjamin Zephaniah’s over two decades old warnings about ‘listening to the rong radio station’ seem more insightfully on point now than ever. Especially as there seems to be too many of these media platforms failing the stress test of our historical moment as to just how close to the edge of truth they’ll go, and how all too easily money can lure them away from that edge.



Now of course any stations airing IAH of course automatically qualify for the ‘right radio station’ category 😁 ha  (to whom I am most grateful for - a link to those currently actively airing the show here).   



That said, there's really no denying radio and media is power. And though it has long been argued as to whether indeed power always corrupts, what power does do is reveal. What a person (and/or institution) is really all about, and who and what it is they really serve. 



And an ultimate - if not the ultimate power - is controlling perception.

Something the likes of Robert McChesney and Charles Lewis (both featured in this episode) understood well.  Heroes of the earlier media reform movement, they saw the need for some serious transformations in and over the control of our media environment. Unfortunately that need that so many have envisioned for so long remains.  More than ever.



Especially against all the wasted potential of stations that use that power to protect the status quo of privilege rather than challenge it. 

Radiophonic power.  What are you doing with it?  And why?  

After all our current status quo is certainly unjust, and entirely untenable.  And as history provides ample evidence of, the status quo won’t disrupt itself.



The "Radio Retaliation" episode " is one heavy on some Thievery Corporation (from whom the name derives), who have long been a cultural touchstone for me, and whose work has long been an inspiration.  

 This episode also features Erika Wennerstrom and The Heartless Bastards, from "A Beautiful Life," which is one of the best rock albums in years, here asking just how low will go, to get to the top. We’re finding that out now with a whole lot of people, that’s for sure. [Spoiler Alert. It’s all about the money].  The episode also features other status quo disruptors such as Jesse Welles, Supergold, Nina Simone, and many more. 



So amidst these turbulent and transformative times, make what you know rock.  Don’t quiet down with the truth at hand, but turn the volume up on it.  And dance to it.  Take yourself to the edge.  Because that edge is often little more than a line drawn by those who profit at your expense from you not crossing it.

Here's to turning up the radiophonic retaliation to the mediated propaganda of our age…

It's All Happening

"Sound The Alarm (Radio Retaliation)"

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