Oberlin’s alumni mag on Radio Lab

In a profile in the alumni magazine of Oberlin College, Radio Lab hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich discuss the show and its ties to their shared alma mater. “It feels like an extension of conversations I used to have at Oberlin,” Abumrad says. “There’s a playfulness that connects it to college. I hope that’s not just regression.” A coda to the article features other Oberlin grads in public radio contemplating the connection between their college and their jobs.

YouTube – Sesame Streets

Put dialogue from Scorcese films into the mouths of Grover and Big Bird and you get Sesame Streets. (NSFW. Via WFMU’s blog.)

Sirius drops PRI

As of Tuesday, Sirius Satellite Radio stopped carrying programs from Public Radio International.

FCC on LPFM and a public file violation

In actions announced today, the FCC denied a low-power FM application on localism grounds and fined WXLV-FM in Schnecksville, Pa., $10,000 for failing to maintain its public file (PDFs).

Knight seeks proposals for digital community connections

The Knight Foundation will spend $5 million in the first year (and perhaps $25 million over five years) for innovative digital prototypes, initiatives and experiments that improve connections among people in communities. Application deadline for the Knight Brothers 21st Century News Challenge: Dec. 31. Guidelines are posted at www.newschallenge.org. Applicants need not be journalists or have printing presses or transmitters.

Hear 2.0: What the new Arbitron rules mean to you

Mark Ramsey comments on Arbitron’s decision to include ratings for noncommercial radio in its market reports. “Public radio will now be on commercial radio’s radar like never before,” he writes. “Commercial radio will more aggressively learn from public radio, compete with it, and counter-program it.” (Via Technology360.)

Soldiers’ language wiped by fears of FCC

The New York Observer’s NYTV columnist reports on how FCC indecency rules inhibit PBS’s coverage of the war and other topics. “It’s a really sorry state of affairs if we’re Disney-fying combat,” says filmmaker Martin Smith, whose Oct. 3 Frontline documentary, “Return of the Taliban,” will air without f-words spoken by soldiers in combat.