This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves.

Last night, I continued my busy summer of pitching in one of the mainstays of the Sunday night broadcast schedule at my beloved college radio alma mater. After using my last guest-hosting spot on 90FM’s Then and Now to throw back the clock to a radio program that used to occupy the same timeslot, I opted this time for a plain old freeform show, careening back and forth between eras on the whims of what felt right for any given segue. I did, however, make a point of opening with a lengthy set centering on women expressing different levels of anger, which was my admittedly small-scale gesture in response to the appalling legal decision that capped off a week of truly miserable news from the Supreme Court of the United States. I wish I could have included the duet Olivia Rodrigo and Lily Allen performed during the weekend, but, alas, the Federal Communications Commission overruled me.

For posterity’s sake, and my own record-keeping, this is my playlist from Then and Now on June 26, 2022:

PJ Harvey, “Dry”
MIA, “Born Free”
Bikini Kill, “Hamster Baby”
Fiona Apple, “Fetch the Bolt Cutters”
Alanis Morissette, “Right Through You”
Sleater-Kinney, “Jumpers”
Ani Difranco, “Lost Woman Song”
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “Counting Down the Hours”
Hoodoo Gurus, “Out That Door”
Martha and the Muffins, “World Without Borders”
Joy Division, “New Dawn Fades”
Chvrches, “Science/Visions”
The Mountain Goats, “Harlem Roulette”
Superchunk, “Detroit Has a Skyline”
Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, “Birds in Perspex” (live at the Cambridge Folk Festival)

Freestyle Fellowship, “Everything’s Everything”
Vagabon, “Wits About You”
Smoosh, “Find a Way”
The Police, “It’s Alright for You”
Japanese Breakfast, “Be Sweet”
The Verve, “This Time”
Ben Kweller, “Commerce, TX”
Lyle Lovett, “Private Conversation”
The Weakerthans, “Tournament of Hearts”
The Pretenders, “The Wait” (live at the Paradise Theater in Boston, 1980)
The Postelles, “Can’t Stand Still”
Velvet Crush, “Faster Days”
Eric Mercury, “I Can Smell That Funky Music”
Muse, “Uno”
Freelance Whales, “Hannah”
Kate Bush, “Cloudbusting”

White Rabbits, “Percussion Gun”
The National, “Anyone’s Ghost”
The Roots, “The Seed (2.0)”
Hugh Masekela, “Mace and Grenades”
The Jesus and Mary Chain, “My Little Underground”
Hilly Michaels, “Calling All Girls”
Wet Leg, “Angelica”
Married with Sea Monsters, “Face It Tiger”
Self, “Meg Ryan”
The Lucy Show, “A Million Things”
U2, “Trip Through Your Wires”
Holly Miranda, “Whatever You Want”
Jen Trynin, “Love Letter”
The Bongos, “Come Back to Me”
The Dead Weather, “3 Birds”
Soundgarden, “Jesus Christ Pose”

Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Radio Days” tag.