Programs

With a rotating cast of hosts and in-depth exploration of entire albums, Album of the Week brings a fantastically fun hour to the airwaves.

Through smart, intellectual, and engaging storytelling, Big Picture Science discusses today’s biggest scientific stories and breakthroughs by interviewing leading researchers and scientists. The program delivers the information in unorthodox yet clever ways, proving that science radio doesn’t have to be dry, even if the humor is. 

Join host Ruth Chambers as she shares stories from 1800 to 1920 in the dialogue and dialects of the time as written by the authors. You'll hear Gold Rush and Wild West Stories, Tall Tales, and plenty of Mark Twain. Some of the stories were written by the reader herself! Tune in, sit back, and enjoy a taste of simpler times.

Join Nancy around the campfire to hear authentic western music and cowboy poetry. Something deep in your soul will resonate to stories from the early wranglers, Mexican vaqueros, old West adventurers, Silver Screen buckaroos, contemporary real cowboys, and all who appreciate wide open spaces, freedom, and the western lifestyle.

Davis has a very unique musical scene- from the Mondavi Center’s formal performances to the local clubs where bands and upcoming artists hone their craft. Up-and-coming local artists are covered by Listening Lyrics with Pieter Pastoor. The local and visiting musicians  are captured by Jim Buchanan on Live Tracks. On Davis Music Connections, we play past Davis bands of note and those that are touring, taking a little bit of Davis to the rest of the world. We also bring you a taste of world-reknowned artists who have appeared or will appear at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, especially the jazz performers due to your host's lifelong love of jazz and Latin music.

Hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now is an award-winning syndicated news program that gives voice to perspectives rarely heard in corporate-sponsored media, including independent journalists, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics, independent analysts, and ordinary people from around the world.

Doctors on Cannabis is an educational program for the canna-curious that features medical experts ranging from MDs to PHDs. Our mission is to provide the highest quality medicinal information on cannabis, empowering people to make choices that can significantly improve their health and wellbeing.

Every night, hear 7+ hours of music to keep you company—awake, asleep, or somewhere in between—courtesy of your friends at KDRT. 

Independent and Local is a music program featuring local unsigned artists and bands. The show includes "Moments," featuring brief interviews with experts in the scientific, health, and artistic communities about interesting topics and current events. The main focus is music, along with a few outside-the-box ideas.

Matt The Cat presents the soul that came before rock n’ roll: 1950s rhythm and blues. Each week, this underrated and rollicking music plays on that old Rockola Jukebox in the back.

Live Tracks highlights a wide range of live musical performances, from early 60s rock to modern rockabilly, from blues to bluegrass.  The program frequently features local performances recorded and mixed here in Davis by host Jim Buchanan.

Join host Beth Post as she features the unique sounds of Hawaiian music—from early icons of island music to today's innovators—exploring styles, the history of the genre, and revered songs and performers.

Host Wayne Hagen presents a bit of musical mayhem that never goes Outta Style.

The word "gospel" is derived for the old Anglo-Saxon word meaning “good message” or “good news." Host Preacher believes gospel music is powerful, whether the listener is or is not Christian--that everyone can enjoy listening to gospel because it is uplifting and inspiring, sung with passion and belief from the artist, touching all who hear it in a good and heartfelt way. The aim of the show is to help listeners find what Preacher believes lives in everyone: a good spirit that drives us to be the best we can be.

Join The Alchemist as he is raised from the dead, every Friday from 10 to Midnight PST on kdrt.org, 95.7 FM, and the whispering wind. Conjuring the lost souls of horrendous, hideous, heavy metal tracks to bleed the ears. The Alchemist blends scaring guitars, thundering drums, bludgeoning bass, and silent screams into a vortex of black doom, extreme thrash, and technical classic metal music. Hell awaits!

DJ Tree has a theory of music that involves a tree. Suffice it to say that it involves a trinity, an exploration of themes and connections among recording artists, and otherwise very few boundaries. Listen for music old and new, known and unknown. And if you listen long enough, you may experience some musical enlightenment. 

Join your host Rodriguez as he swings the gate wide open for a cool musical trip featuring sounds from all points of the compass.  Being mindful that "everything connects to everything else," on Silver Nine Volt Heart  you will find the many colorful threads that make up the tapestry of recorded sound...just click it on and let the music start. 

The legendary San Francisco Mime Troupe presents:

Tales of the resistance- an original radio serial!

Featuring 9 parts in four distinct genres that will run bi-weekly throughout the summer!

​Four different story lines – told in the style of detective noir, adventure, horror, sci-fi – will culminate in a finale where all the narratives converge. The show will be in their signature style which includes – political comedy, biting satire, and catchy original music.

The Folk Brothers—Bill and Peter—explore an eclectic range of music, including traditional folk of the British Isles and the U.S, contemporary singer/songwriters on both sides of the Atlantic, and American roots music and some of its lesser-known offshoots. Tune in for a great music mix served with just a shake of sibling rivalry.

The Music Library with your host Dewey Decimal is pretty much self-explanatory.     Dewey plays music for you from a library of music.   In addition, he'll inform you of the specifics of the musical track:  typically the title, song, album, and sometimes the record label and year released.    All helpful information for the casual listener.

Tune in for a wide variety of roots music, including doo-wop, gospel, jazz, blues, rock 'n' roll, Latin, African, and hillbilly/country bluegrass, from the early 1920s to contemporary times. The Wild Fox Party focuses on vocal groups , small-group ensembles, and outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists who never or hardly ever get heard. The music provides a forum for learning about history and diverse cultures, and it does so through the exposure of music as art highlighting points in time that will last forever via the medium of audio recordings.

Twang Thang features outlaw country old and new, featuring the folks who sowed the harder-edged musical seeds for what we today call Americana, as well as the newer artists who continue the tunes and outlaw ethos forward. George Jones, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Lucinda Willimans, Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakum, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Billie Jo Shaver...Americana music didn't just show up one day; it has deep and varied country music roots. Twang Thang explores both the originators and the newcomers, checking out a bunch of the music that happened along the way.