Why Public Radio in Rural Alaska Should Not Play Classical Music

I have a bone to pick with my “local” public radio station. KUAC is an NPR affiliate based in Fairbanks. I am new to the area so I don’t yet know the history of the station or much more than it is one of three stations I can get clearly here in Tok (one seems to toggle between being a rock station and a country station ?!? and the other is a religious station). I’ve learned that the only reason I can get KUAC/NPR here in Tok is because of the ongoing efforts of a tiny Tok-based nonprofit called Duct Tape Radio that funds/manages the repeater. (More on Duct Tape Radio in an upcoming post!)

So before I rant, I must say I am grateful for any bit of NPR that I can get out here. I crave my Fresh Air with Terry Gross, I long for my Neal Conan of Talk of the Nation, I can’t get enough of Humankind and The World from the BBC. These are my daily touchstones, the familiar voices and fascinating stories that fuel my mind, heart and soul. Being out here in such a rurual area of Alaska, my need for these programs has increased 100 fold.

But almost every time I turn on KUAC, they are playing classical music. And it really pisses me off.

Living in Tok Blog on Day To Day on NPR!

The interview I recorded yesterday was aired this morning on the wonderful news show Day To Day (a partnership between NPR and Slate.com). I spoke with Noah Adams. He asked me all sorts of things about the weather here in Tok. Yesterday, we were pushing -78 and today -70.

You can listen to it later this afternoon at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99162528

For those of you checking Weather Underground for temps in Tok, the main Tok link they use is NOT accurate. Possibly correct for the crossroads area of “town,” but for those of us blocks away, the temps are not measurable on our thermometers.

On Weather Underground, try choosing APRSWXNET or Turks on the Tundra as the weather source and watch the temps measured drop by at least 10 degrees below what the main temp reads.