89.9 WJCT Public Radio Broadcasts State Of The Re:Union
August 19, 2010
89.9 WJCT Public Radio Broadcasts State Of The Re:Union As Part of Its Weekend Schedule
State of The Re:Union Airs Saturdays Beginning August 21st through October 30th
(Jacksonville, FL, August 19, 2010) WJCT Public Broadcasting announces the broadcast of the new fall season of the public radio series, State Of The Re:Union, beginning August 21 and continuing through October 30th, as part of the weekend programming lineup on 89.9WJCT Public Radio. The series, which explores the ties that bind communities across the nation, broadcasts at 7am and encores at 3pm on Saturdays, debuting August 21st with an episode focusing on Brooklyn, New York.
State of The Re:Union’s host Al Letson takes listeners on a journey to discover the stories of real people in communities across America who are working to build better lives and neighborhoods. It is also an odyssey of new Americana through the music, poetry, interviews and contributions of local residents from a featured town or city. Some of the upcoming episodes spotlight the following communities:
Twin Cities, Minnesota
Once known as the home of Midwestern Lutherans and Scandinavian farmers, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are now wildly diverse. With 14% of the population now foreign-born, the look and culture of Minneapolis and St. Paul is beginning to change. State of The Re:Union explores the rich range of cultures and communities coming together in the country’s middle.
Española, New Mexico
Española, New Mexico is known as the first Capitol City in America. Settled by Spanish conquistadors in 1598, the area’s rich cultural past is still evident today in its music, art, and way of life. But changing demographics, along with a shift in the local economy has left many residents without land, water, and a sense of identity. State of The Re:Union travels to the Española Valley of Northern New Mexico to explore the area’s history of dispossession, and to discover what the rest of the country can learn from this still vital region of the American Southwest.
Austin, Texas
Austin is a town wrestling with its identity, not as a result of a natural disaster or economic meltdown, but rather its success. The population has spiked and so have its economic advantages, but many residents worry that the development and growth might jeopardize the city’s unique, countercultural feel. State of The Re:Union explores the balance of culture and success in the Texas capital.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles is a sprawling city known to many outsiders as a dizzying, superficial and fragmented wasteland. But when looked at beneath the surface, LA reveals itself as a place of purpose, humanity and dignity. State of The Re:Union travels to the City of Angels to tell a series of stories detailing what home really means and the way it connects people and community.
Central Appalachia
State of The Re:Union explores the misguided portrayal of the rural Appalachian region as a place of victims, a people at the mercy of the region’s poverty or bigotry. The program travels to southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky to examine how residents are balancing deep ties to their history while facing the future in a new way.
Don’t miss the fall season of State of The Re:Union, as it continues to explore the resonating themes, stories, challenges and cultural components that create communities across the country and celebrate the commonality that links us as a people. Tune in, Saturdays at 7am and 3pm on 89.9WJCT Public Radio.
WJCT is the community-supported public broadcasting station for the First Coast.