Radio

British Radio and Television

Falling Behind: The Miseducation of America’s Boys

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American boys are falling behind in academics as early as eight years old. It’s a gap that only grows as those boys become men. This special On Point series explores why America’s boys are falling behind in school and what can be done about it.

Episode breakdown

Episode 1. Do we treat boys like malfunctioning girls? Boys are falling behind academically from the earliest ages. What’s happening in elementary schools that’s leading to that — and what would it take to fix it?

Episode 2. Troublemakers There’s a discernible difference in the behavior of boys and girls at elementary school age. Yet expectations about how they behave and perform in the classroom are the same. What are the differences, and how do they shape the years to come for boys and men?

Episode 3. The opportunity gap By every academic metric, Black boys are falling even further behind than white boys. They graduate at lower rates, have lower test scores, higher rates of special education, and are suspended and expelled more often. On Point goes into classrooms that are bucking that trend to find out what they are doing, and what other schools could learn. Hear the episode on April 16.

Episode 4. Where have all the men gone? Today, male teachers make up less than a quarter of the public school teaching force. And while the number of male teachers joining the profession has only been declining over the past few decades, the number of male teachers leaving it has been increasing. What’s driving men away, and what would it take to bring them back? Hear the episode on April 17.

WATCH: On Point Live With Meghna Chakrabarti | Events
WATCH: On Point Live With Meghna Chakrabarti

Episode 5. ‘We’re in jail with our emotions’ Teenage boys learn men are supposed to be strong, and vulnerability isn’t strong. Believing that makes it hard to identify when mental health is suffering. On Point takes listeners inside a school that’s created a culture around building strong, emotionally vulnerable men. Hear how those lessons can help teen boys before they enter adulthood. Hear the episode on April 18. 

How to listen

Radio

  • From April 14 to April 18, listen to installments of Falling Behind on your local NPR station during On Point.
  • We also air live through our site at 11 a.m. ET here.
  • Find more ways to listen to On Point here.

Podcast

  • After the show airs, you’ll find the series in On Point’s podcast feed, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Source: Falling Behind: The Miseducation of America’s Boys | On Point

Johnnie Walker obituary

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Former pirate radio disc jockey who went to Radio 1 and later became a stalwart of Radio 2

By Nigel Fountain

Johnnie Walker, who has died aged 79, began his career as a disc jockey in the offshore pirate radio era of the mid-1960s. He was one of four pirate DJs – the others were John Peel, Tony Blackburn and Kenny Everett – who came to symbolise that time and continued to prosper in its aftermath.

The pirate radio stations, of which the most famous was Radio Caroline, were set up on ships and disused forts in the North Sea, avoiding British regulation by broadcasting from international waters and providing pop music to a British teen market not catered for by the BBC stations of the era.

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Charles Parker: Radio Pioneer – BBC Sounds

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Charles Parker
Charles Parker

Sean Street delves into the archive of one of the most innovative and controversial BBC radio producers, reviewing Charles Parker’s work from the Radio Ballads to his sacking in 1972.

06 Apr 2019

Parker was born in Bournemouth on April 5th 1919 – the son of a redundant railway clerk who sold paraffin from a handcart – and died in 1980 on the same day as John Lennon. For a man who revolutionised radio production, who is still talked about and revered today, his death was hardly reported in the press.He is probably best known for his series of eight radio ballads made with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.

These programmes became a high point in radio production but they eventually became expensive luxuries that could no longer be afforded. He was “sacked” or “left” the BBC in 1972.

Bournemouth University’s Emeritus Professor of Radio, Sean Street, reviews the life of an icon in the radio industry who, according to fellow producer Michael Mason, was “a real creative genius… his razor blade was like a sculptor’s chisel, releasing the hidden poets in people”.Talking to family, friends and those who worked with Charles Parker, Sean explores his radio productions and ideas on preserving the oral tradition as he delves into a rich archive of material – creating a portrait of a master magician in radio.

Parker’s life was also a journey from poverty to Cambridge University, from a Conservative Christian to a Socialist, from a Submarine Commander to a Radio Producer. But throughout his career, two things remained constant – his dedication, often working for days without sleep, and most importantly his desire to tell the extraordinary stories of ordinary people in their own words.Producer: Andy CartwrightA Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

LISTEN to AUDIO at: Archive on 4 – Charles Parker: Radio Pioneer – BBC Sounds

Serenity Now: Music And A Conversation With Joan Shelley

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The Hobbledehoy is vey much looking forward to hearing Joan Shelley perform in Boston on Friday night. Though she hails from Kentucky, Joan’s music borrows quite a lot from British traditional folk sounds, and English vocalists like June Tabor, who she frequently cites as a major influence. Give a listen to NPR’s All Songs Considered interview below.

In this All Songs Considered guest DJ session, Joan Shelley talks about her latest album, Like the River Loves the Sea and shares songs by some of the other artists who’ve inspired her over the years.

Joan Shelley makes music that lulls my soul. Her new album, Like the River Loves the Sea, is a serene experience. It’s music with a deep connection to British folk music from the ’60s and ’70s but with influences from this side of the world and her home of Louisville, Kentucky.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, Joan Shelley is joined by her musical partner and Louisville companion, guitarist Nathan Salsburg to play DJ. You can hear the roots of the music they make in the songs they chose to share, from American banjo legend Roscoe Holcomb to English folk singer June Tabor and the contemporary music of Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

Joan Shelley tells the story of recording Like the River Loves the Sea in Iceland and how they had to forgo adding banjo to the album because they couldn’t locate one in Iceland. We also hear Joan Shelley’s early trio called Maiden Radio, Joan and Nathan’s new collaboration with Bonnie “Prince” Billy and how she met him at an ugly sweater party in Kentucky [ . . . ]

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW with JOAN SHELLEY at: Serenity Now: Music And A Conversation With Joan Shelley