Blogs

“Today I’d like to talk with you about someone who has been called the granddaddy of motivational speakers on television,” says Heart to Heart host Dr. Gitane. “At one time he had five of his books on the New York Times bestsellers list.”

On her program for this week, Dr. G invites listeners to learn more about “this fine person, who I had the pleasure of meeting, by the way, umpteen years ago” — Felice Leonardo Buscaglia, more commonly known as Leo Buscaglia, and also as “Dr. Love.”

Penguin Random House says his first book, Love (pictured), was a continual bestseller for more than 20 years.

On this week's Celtic Songlines you hear the band Kerfuffle, starting with the 16th century English ballad “Castleton Carol” from the band’s To The Ground album (pictured) of 2008, followed by Louise Mulcahy with a medley of jigs and reels, Drónán, the legendary Tommy Sands with Moya and Fionan, harpist/vocalist Mary O'Hara, the band Runa, a raven tune from Cuélebre, Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends, the all-star band Usher's Island and Arty McGlynn.

“Americana music didn't just show up one day — the genre has evolved from deep and varied country music roots,” says Twang Thang host Dirk Brazil. The show “explores both the old and the new and a bunch of stuff from the in between.”

Like this week’s show, which starts with Joe Ely’s “Whenever Kindness Fails” from his 1992 album Love and Danger.

Football Club Davis, a semi-professional soccer team founded in 2017, is based in Davis. On the latest Timeout Radio, FC Davis owner Adam Lewin returns to recap an eventful 2023 season. We talk about the adversity that both the men's and women's teams faced this season, and how the program will continue to grow for years to come.

We also look ahead to the fall 2024 season, when the Lions will join the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL).

Program host Rohan Baxi often features sports topics on Timeout Radio. In July he chatted with journalist Cam Inman, who talks about covering the San Francisco 49ers for the San Jose Mercury News, his advice to aspiring sports broadcasters, and what 49ers fans can expect this upcoming season. Check out Rohan's "Inside the 49ers with Cam Inman."

Wildfires have scorched the Hawaiian island of Maui this week, with at least 55 people killed and thousands of people driven from their homes as of this morning, Aug. 11. Na Mele O Hawai’i host Beth Post has dedicated the first hour of her program for Aug. 10 to honor Maui.

“These wildfires have blown through all sorts of land, flattened the very precious town of Lahaina, and displaced thousands of people,” she says. "Our thoughts are with Maui, with the ohana we all have. Many of us have friends or family who live on the island. Some have lost homes or beloved pets, or have been displaced.

“We send our aloha to all of those, and all the people who are sending their aloha as well. We can lift one another up, as we lift Maui.”

Her first song this week is by Kuana Torres Kahele from Music for the Hawaiian Islands, Vol. 3 (pictured).

David A. Reynolds, host of Celtic Songlines, co-hosts the latest Album of the Week with a friend of KDRT from back in the years -- Dr. Strangely Strange (aka Davis Dr. Ron Cotterel), who hosted Magical Music Box until the early 2010s.

Their choice for Album of the Week is Lightbulb Sun by the band Porcupine Tree. The doctor says wunderkind musician Steven Wilson, born in 1967, began Porcupine Tree in 1987 as a hoax, but it evolved into a full band that reached fruition with this record, which features lush production and beautiful harmonies.

“I’m going to devote this morning’s show to musicians who are based in France," says Crossing Continents host Gil Medovoy, "and I will start with the one musician I feel is probably, as far as world music is concerned, is very much at the top for me. His name is Thierry 'Titi' Robin (pictured, in a photo from his website). He started his musical career in the early ’90s. This is just about the time when I started delving into world music, and sharing it on the air.

“I was very much taken by what I’ve heard. He grew up in central France … his neighbors, his friends, many of them were Romani folks who lived in the area. As a young child, he engaged with this community very freely, and the results can be heard throughout his music.”

Crossing Continents, a world music show, covers the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, including traditional and contemporary music. Gil launched the program on KDRT six months ago, and hosts new episodes on Mondays at 10 a.m.

Hostèsse Jess Goddèsse is back with new music, Vinyl Vespers, and more — listen for your own enjoyment and at your own risk. ;-D

The latest program includes new music from Guided By Voices, Tech N9ne, Palehound, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Protomartyr, Feeble Little Horse, and our Goddess of the Month (pictured), Ms. Dolly Parton!

Bill Wagman has renamed his KDRT program, but doesn’t want anyone to forget his former co-host.

Bill co-hosted The Folk Brothers with Peter Schiffman each Wednesday at KDRT starting in September 2015 (the first show is still available in the archives!). And then this lovely run of programs ended, at least in that format, when Peter died in May 2023.

Bill is carrying on. The show is now called Sometimes Folk. Don’t read the name change as a turn away from folk music, Bill says. He might choose songs now and then that stray outside the mainstream — one of the things we do anyway here at KDRT — but as he says, “I can make an argument for a lot of music being folk.”

He says Peter’s influence continues to shape the program and the songs Bill chooses to play each week. Not that Bill is a novice about the music. He is known — among overseas musicians, even — for the house concerts he has hosted at his Davis home over the decades, and for his decades as a DJ at UC Davis station KDVS.

As long as Bill Wagman stays on the air, The Folk Brothers -> Sometimes Folk will continue to be a reliable hour of great music and community, and a bouquet of forget-me-nots on the table in memory of Peter Schiffman. Here’s the latest show.

Celtic Songlines launches its musical lineup for this week with a song from Dramagical, a brand-new release “inspired by nature and Scotland's magical otherworld” from fiddler Seán Heely (pictured).

Host Craig Reynolds follows up the song with more “wonderful Celtic fiddle energy,” and it's all ready for you now on this week’s show.