Timeout Radio

A radio drama or radio play is a dramatized audio performance that relies on dialogue, music and sound effects to help listeners imagine the characters and story. COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Davis High Drama Club from performing onstage, but they got creative and instead worked on a series of radio plays that Sophia Davis tells us about. In our world of smartphones and high speed internet it is hard to remember a time when wireless messages couldn’t even cross the Atlantic. Learn how radio broadcasts were invented and the difference between AM and FM radio. Visit Nova Scotia, Canada, where Marconi changed the world with the first transatlantic radio transmission.

Kevin Dexter, play-by-play commentator for the Long Island Nets, tells us about his career as a sports broadcaster. Learn about an intriguing experiment done during an NFL game in 1980 to find out if we really need sports broadcasters. Then take a quick trip to Long Island, New York, where Charles Lindbergh took off in 1927 on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight ever, and where the 4,500-pound great white shark that inspired the movie Jaws was caught.

Mapping apps on our phones give us access to huge amounts of geographic data literally on our fingertips. We learn how computers are used in geography and map making and talk to Sean Glantz, who teaches Computer Science at Da Vinci Charter Academy about why computer science education in schools is so important. And by the way, do you know what a "schoolie" is? Travel with us to Surfers Paradise, Australia to find out.

For many groups, voting rights were gained after decades of struggle and activism. In this election special we learn about the history of voting in the United States and travel to our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Listen to find out which American presidents kept alligators at the White House! We talk to Da Vinci Junior High social studies teacher, Victor Lagunes, about voting, online teaching, and the San Francisco Giants.