Dear Friend and Listener:
This week I have for you two artifacts of my early radio career, on topics that are still relevant today. They are from the original program that became Planet Waves FM, called Radio Navigator on Radio Woodstock, and it ran every Sunday night at 11 pm.
My inspiration was Bill Ayres, a former Catholic priest who for nearly 50 years did a Sunday night program on WPLJ radio, a major rock station in New York City. Every week for 90 minutes, the world would slow down and people could be real with one another. When I was a high school student, I listened every week, loving the slow-paced vibe of the program and its human-centered themes, designed to create a safe place to contemplate existence.
In 1996, with the help of my friend Jerry Montano and a local restaurant owner named Bernie Fickett (who provided sponsorship), my pitch to Radio Woodstock was accepted and my program began Sunday, Sept. 22 of that year. I did 75 editions before visiting London and then moving to Germany in the spring of 1998.
A Pile of DATs and Cassettes
At long last, I recently took a stack of cassettes and DATs to Ben McMurtrie at Media Duplication NYC, who transferred them to digital format. I’ve probably made 15 trips to the city the past five years — and every time forgot to bring them. Last week, I remembered. Slowly I’ll build a little archive for you and for me.
The sound quality of these programs is analog, not digital. In these recordings, I’m a man 28 years younger and less experienced than I am today. I’m happy I passed through that territory because it led to where I am. But I’m grateful to be the person I am now, and also the one who developed my abilities and ideas over all those years.
The thing I learned about radio was to slow the pace of my speech and of the program, and let it unfold. That’s something that comes with many years of experience, and also, confidence in being who I am (that took some practice).
Fun Fact — I coined two slogans on my program that spread into the station’s format: New York’s Best Talk (as a pun on NY’s Best Rock), and We deliver 100.1 percent.
Dr. Chet Wilk — Chiropractor who Took On the AMA
The first program ran June 6, 1997, and my guest was Dr. Chester Wilk. This will be of interest to anyone who has started to figure out the problem of AMA-based medical tyranny. Dr. Wilk was a chiropractor who brought a lawsuit against multiple state and national medical organizations for their organized smear campaign against chiropractic — and won. It took 10 years, and a sitting retired judge to finally take a close look at the case.
I seem to only have the first 45 minutes of the program, but you will get the idea. I looked up Dr. Wilk in 2020, and found him on what he called “the YouTube.” He had listed his phone number right there, I dialed — and he picked up. He remembered me all those years later, and we had a good laugh, and I thanked him for being such a badass motherfucker. Dr. Wilk passed in 2022.
I am probably the only person in world history who has seen his natal chart, which has a LOT of Chiron.
Pirates of the Shawangunks
The second program involves another issue dear to my heart — exposing land trusts that steal private property. My guest was Karen Pardini, co-owner of what you sometimes hear me refer to as the Grandmother Land.
I’ve covered this issue for many years on and off, beginning with an article in Woodstock Times from late 1997 called By Any Means. While this program is undated, it coincides with this publication, from Dec. 4, 1997.
Then in 2015, I followed up with another article, based on another lawsuit against the same people, called Moving Mountains. The articles are really something, though the interview will perhaps give you more a sense of the feelings involved.
Thank you for tuning in, and for supporting the program by sharing, with a paid subscription, or by showing up every week for the fun.
With love,
Time travel to the 20th century and my first year doing talk radio, on WDST Radio Woodstock, 100.1 NY.