Rediscovered Radio

Between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s, about three and a half million people migrated from Appalachia to the urban manufacturing centers of the Midwest. Over 40,000 came to the Dayton area from West Virginia, Tennessee, and especially Eastern Kentucky, seeking work at companies like National Cash Register, Frigidaire, and General Motors. They brought their culture and their music along with them. Archives Fellow Jocelyn Robinson brings us the rich mountain heritage in the WYSO audio collection, preserved through the efforts of three local brothers.

A few years ago, Producer Jocelyn Robinson rediscovered some incredible gems in our library that had gone lost. Including a rare recording of Studs Terkel, the legendary author, oral historian, and radio journalist. But producing a radio story was just the start of this recording’s journey.

Just about every place has a local hero, a hometown kid who grew up to make their mark on the world. In Yellow Springs, Ohio, one hometown hero made her…

Throughout this season of Rediscovered Radio, we’ve heard voices from the 1960s and 70s, from the peace movement, Black Power and Native rights activists.…

Today on Rediscovered Radio, we return to early May 1971, when huge demonstrations were held in Washington DC, to protest the war in Viet Nam. The…

In 1965, a kid named Gene Lohman came to Yellow Springs to attend Antioch College. He brought with him an almost encyclopedic knowledge of popular music,…

Today on Rediscovered Radio, we return to the spring of 1969, a year after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. At that time, many Americans…

In the WYSO Archives, we have many recorded gems, and one of them has recently been unearthed: a rare recording of Studs Terkel, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, oral historian, and Peabody Award winning radio journalist from Chicago. The WYSO tape has intrigued Rediscovered Radio producer Jocelyn Robinson, and some other radio preservationists working to carry on his legacy.

Poet Robert Bly visited Antioch College in 1968, the same year he won the National Book Award for a collection called The Light Around the Body. At…

Today on Rediscovered Radio, a return to the time when the Civil Rights movement took a more militant turn toward Black Nationalism. That change can be…

After the Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles in 1965, something unique happened. An Academy Award-winning screenwriter visited Watts and realized the…

Today on Rediscovered Radio, we meet the American poet Archibald MacLeish whose life spanned most of the 20th century. Bob Dylan described him as a man…