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

I’ve had the good fortune in recent years to spend a fair amount of time in the on-air studio of WWSP-FM, the student-run radio station where I first served as a steward of the public airwaves as an undergraduate. Aside from reunion weekends, I’ve gratefully accepted the opportunity to sub in for my friend who’s held down the Sunday night 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. shift for decades with his sterling show Then and Now. Because of new responsibilities a state away, where I’m honored to work with students who give me a generous amount of airtime on the station I help them run, it’s been a while since I took Then and Now for a spin. Last night, I finally returned.

I had no specific theme or gimmick for last night’s program, though I will admit to occasionally tilting the playlist in the direction of a few people who I knew for certain were listening. I didn’t even bring any music in with me. Every selection was pulled from the station’s music library.

For posterity’s sake, and my own record-keeping, this is my playlist from Then and Now on June 1, 2025:

Pulp, “Common People”
Haim, “Now I’m In It”
New Order, “The Village”
Kate Bush, “Heads We’re Dancing”
Uncle Tupelo, “The Long Cut”
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” (from Live 1975-1985)
Blue Rodeo, “What Am I Doing Here”
Gear Daddies, “She’s Happy”
The National, “Day I Die”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Wolf”
St. Vincent, “Bring Me Your Loves”
PJ Harvey, “Send His Love to Me”
TV on the Radio, “Repetition”
Dream Warriors, “My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style”

The Replacements, “Alex Chilton”
The Breeders, “I Just Wanna Get Along”
Sleater-Kinney, “Combat Rock”
The Clash, “Clampdown”
The Cure, “Icing Sugar”
Suzanne Vega, “As a Child”
The Strokes, “Alone Together”
Paul Weller, “A Town Called Malice” (from the live album Days of Speed)
U2, “Party Girl” (from the live album Under a Blood Red Sky)
Ani Difranco, “Gravel” (from the live album Living in Clip)
Best Coast, “Boyfriend”
Jens Lenkman, “A Postcard to Nina”
Wet Leg, “Ur Mom”
Robyn, “Missing U”
Robyn Hitchcock, “Oceanside”

Talking Heads, “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”
Jane’s Addiction, “Jane Says” (from the 1987 album Jane’s Addiction)
James, “Sometimes (Lester Piggot)”
Sugar, “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”
Mitski, “Bug Like an Angel”
Concrete Blonde, “Someday?”
Slow Pulp, “Slugs”
Beabadoobee, “Take a Bite”
boygenius, “$20”
Interpol, “Evil”
The Linda Lindas, “All in My Head”
Ride, “Polar Bear”
Ratboys, “Making Noise for the Ones You Love”
Ramones, “Judy Is a Punk”
Dinosaur Jr, “Thumb”

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