Radio and Sound

Photo: J. Waits

Photo: J. Waits

I write and podcast about about audio culture. The bulk of my writing appears on Radio Survivor, where I am I also one of the producers of our weekly radio show/podcast. I am also a contributor to Hii Magazine and Radio World magazine.

See all my Radio Survivor articles and podcast episodes that I have produced here. Read my Radio World articles here.

Wine

Photo: J. Waits

Photo: J. Waits

I did the majority of the photography featured on the Waits-Mast Family Cellars website and pen many of the blog posts.

Take a trip down memory lane and view vintage Waits-Mast Family Cellars blog posts on Valley Fog Blog!

Archival Work

WCDB display of college radio ephemera at the University at Albany college radio station. Photo: J. Waits

In February, 2024, I began working with The Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC), a project of The Internet Archive. I am helping to expand the ham radio collection to include college radio materials.

Popular Culture and Local Culture

Photo: J. Waits

Photo: J. Waits

In February, 2021, I helped launch a new Twin Peaks rewatch podcast called Back to the Double R. Each week, my co-hosts and I serve up commentary about the hugely influential television series, Twin Peaks!

Also during the pandemic, I created and edited a youth newspaper, Sunnyside Sequestered, featuring artwork and writing by neighborhood kids and teens.

I love writing and talking about quirky aspects of culture. Locally, I’ve done pieces for Mommy Nearest about neighborhoods (see my guide to Glen Park) and attractions (like Urban Putt). And on Radio Survivor, I write about pop culture every chance I get. My review of televised yule logs is one of my all-time favorite articles. Another not-to-be missed article is my piece about the how the (faux) Haverford College radio station was created from scratch on the HBO series Mare of Easttown.

History and Academia

Photo: J. Waits

Photo: J. Waits

I co-chair the College, Community and Educational Radio Caucus of the Library of Congress' Radio Preservation Task Force.

As an independent scholar, I’ve contributed articles to the peer-reviewed publications, Radio Journal and Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture.

My pieces include From Wireless Experiments to Streaming: The Secret History and Changing Role of College Radio at Haverford College 1923-2014 and Does Indie Mean Independence? Freedom and Restraint in a Late 1990s US College Radio Community.

The Playlist is the Thing: Digital Responses to Corporate Music, a paper that I presented at the International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference, was a prescient look at how digital music culture would evolve.