Every week, Yonder Radio brings rural conversations with national reach to listeners around the country.
We start out talking to Daily Yonder contributor Kaitlyn McConnell about the future of small rural cemeteries in the Ozarks. As donations decline and cemetery caretakers age, communities and individuals will have to decide what happens to these sites of local history.
Then we head to Montana, where theater-maker Michael Rohd is taking his show on the road, bringing interactive performances about mental health to communities around the state. Next, we’ll learn about a one-of-a-kind ballet in Wisconsin, where the dancing is done by farm equipment – hay rakes, to be exact.
We’ll hear from French filmmaker Luce Fayolle about her time documenting the American Southwest, and musician and professor Trevor McKenzie brings us the story of Otto Wood, also known as the Appalachian Robin Hood.
Our featured musician is Bruce Salmon, who combines influences from funk to Klezmer in the hills of New Mexico.
Tune in for all that and more on this week’s episode of Yonder Radio.
Yonder Radio is available across all digital platforms, and on air with partner radio stations around the country. If you’re a station interested in broadcasting Yonder Radio, sign up below or get in contact with the team at joel@ruralstrategies.org.
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More Information About Yonder Radio
What?
Yonder Radio is a new, free, hour-long show that is fresh every week and designed to help fill programming gaps. We’ll feature nuanced stories that represent the 60 million people who live in rural America, and the distinct communities they call home.
Each week will start with a news round-up: think of this as the top headlines read through a rural lens. For instance, how does a government shutdown affect federal workers living in rural communities? Or, what do changes in Medicare policy mean for small town hospitals? We’ll also talk with reporters for in-depth but conversational segments going beyond the headlines, exploring their coverage on topics shaping rural communities. We’ll highlight how these stories unfold across different regions, offering local nuance with a broader perspective.
Yonder Radio is not just news. It’s also a show focused on rural lives and livelihoods. That means weekly human-interest stories, hearing from hunters, farmers, gardeners, and shopkeepers; conversations with artists supporting and reimagining traditions; performances by regional musicians; and vibrant analysis of rural representation in pop culture. Add in a round of engaging trivia, and you’ve got a show that’s as rich and varied as the places it comes from.
Why?
Public media just took a $1.1 billion hit, thanks to recent Congressional cuts, and as we’ve all seen, it’s rural broadcasters that bear the brunt. And even before these cuts, the rural communities we all cover have felt the consequences of a media landscape transformed by conglomerates, consolidation, and the declining resources available to local outlets.
Yonder Radio is designed to fill programming gaps for those stations struggling to find quality content. It will be formatted to fit stations’ needs with internal breaks built in. The show gives stations an accessible, flexible, high-quality hour of content every week.
Who?
Yonder Radio is produced by the Center for Rural Strategies, publisher of the Daily Yonder. Centering rural stories with nuance, context, and care has made the Daily Yonder the nation’s preeminent source for rural news for nearly two decades. Rural Strategies’ additional programs, including Rural Assembly, Rural Faith Initiative, and Living Traditions, will provide enriching voices and stories to this collaborative radio show. Yonder Radio is hosted by Jared Ewy, a veteran radio personality and regular contributor to the Daily Yonder.
The post Yonder Radio: Hay Rake Ballet, Rural Cemeteries, and the Appalachian Robin Hood appeared first on The Daily Yonder.
