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New Weekend Programs Coming To WEMU

New Yorker Radio
Twitter user @NewYorkerRadio

Starting this Friday, October 23, WEMU will be making some exciting changes to the weekend programming lineup.  All the local/live music programs you know and love are staying in place, as are most of the great national programs WEMU runs every weekend.  

New Yorker Radio Hour

WEMU is proud to be one of the first stations in the country to premier The New Yorker Radio Hour starting this Friday at 6 p.m. (encore Saturday  at 7 a.m.).  The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine’s editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers and editors. This isn’t a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation.  

Freakanomics Radio
Credit WNYC
Have fun discovering the hidden side of everything with host Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the best-selling "Freakonomics” books. Each week, hear surprising conversations that explore the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. Dubner talks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs — and his “Freakonomics” co-author Steve Levitt.

Freakonomics Radio

At 7 p.m. Friday (repeated Sunday morning at 7 a.m.), stay tuned for Freakonomics Radio.  Freakonomics Radio is an award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC. Freakonomics Radio is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, with more than 5 million downloads per month.  

Freakonomics began when New York journalist and author Stephen J. Dubner went to Chicago to write about award-winning economist Steven D. Levitt for The New York Times Magazine. Dubner had been reluctant to take the assignment (he was in the middle of writing a book about the psychology of money). Levitt was reluctant to be shadowed by a journalist (but his mother loved the Times Magazine, so he gave in). The article came out, and led to an unexpected partnership. Levitt and Dubner wrote Freakonomics, a book about cheating teachers, bizarre baby names, self-dealing Realtors, and crack-selling mama’s boys. They figured it would sell about 80 copies. Instead, it took up long-term residency on the Times best-seller list, and went on to sell more than 5 million copies in 40 languages.

Music Programing: All Songs Considered & alt.Latino

At 8 p.m. Friday you'll hear two popular music programs from NPR, All Songs Considered and alt.Latino.  All Songs Considered is home to the best new music and a community of fans always ready to share their opinions on the current music scene.  alt.Latino is NPR Music's program dedicated to Latin Alternative music and rock in Spanish is hosted by Jasmine Garsd and Felix Contreras.  

Jazz Night In American with Christian McBride
Credit NPR
Jazz Night In America, with host Christian McBride, is a weekly program centered on great jazz concerts and the artists behind them.

Jazz Night In America with Christian McBride

Jazz Night In America from WBGO and Jazz at Lincoln Center, brings you the best in live jazz each week.  WEMU listeners have been requesting this program since it premiered last year, and now you can hear it each Friday and Sunday at 9 p.m..  Jazz Night In America is many things. It's a weekly radio show from three groups that have all made nationally syndicated jazz radio for many years, with an internationally renowned musician as our guide. It's a weekly concert video webcast from venues across the country. It's a hub for video features, multi-platform journalism and on-demand access. All together, it's a portrait of jazz music today, as seen through many of its exceptional live performances and performers.

Every week we're offering this one-hour program centered on great concerts and the stories behind them. Christian McBride, whom you may know as a phenomenal bass player and bandleader, hosts the show. Currently, more than 100 public radio stations have signed on to broadcast Jazz Night In America, and now you can hear it on your community NPR station, WEMU.

A WEMU listener favorite, Mountain Stage, can now be heard twice a week.  Friday at 10 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m.  For more than 30 years, Mountain Stage with Larry Groce has been the home of live music on public radio. Produced in West Virginia and distributed by NPR, each two hour episode of Mountain Stage can be heard every week on more than 150 stations across America, and around the world via NPR Music and mountainstage.org. Recorded in front of a live audience, Mountain Stage features performances from seasoned legends and emerging stars in genres ranging from folk, blues, and country; to indie rock, synth pop, world music, alternative, and beyond.

The New Jazz Archive

Start your Saturday with another WEMU favorite, The New Jazz Archive with host Jeff Haas.  He'll be moving from Sunday at 9 p.m. to Saturday at 6 a.m.  That'll be followed by an encore airing of The New Yorker Radio Hour at 7 a.m.  

Credit NPR
Ask Me Another blends brainteasers and local pub trivia night with comedy and music into a rambunctious hour-long show.

Ask Me Another

Also new to Saturday is another popular program, Ask Me Another, which you can listen to at 12 p.m. following Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.  Ask Me Another is the rambunctious live show from NPR and WNYC that blends brainteasers, pub trivia, comedy and music into an hour of mind-bending fun. Host Ophira Eisenberg invites guests and listeners alike to stretch their noggins, tickle their funny bones and be serenaded by house musician Jonathan Coulton. What you'll hear resembles the casual intimacy of game night at a friend's house: one where scores are forgotten in favor of hilarious gaffes.

Every week on your radio you can play along as Ophira poses questions to willing audience members and call-in contestants, Jonathan sings clues to the tune of pop songs and the resident puzzle guru attempts to keep everyone in line. Each week a new celebrity V.I.P. – that's Very Important Puzzler – dazzles from the puzzle hot seat in a custom-built game.  Are you game for NPR's guiltiest and most puzzling pleasure? To become a contestant, email askmeanother@npr.org.  That's right - you could be featured on this exciting broadcast!
Music & More

New to Saturday late nights is Strange Currency.  This is another great program from music lovers, for music lovers from KMUW, the same station that brings us Chris Heim's Global Village each Saturday at 9 p.m. From 10 p.m. to midnight you'll hear new music, forgotten classics, and lots of great tunes you'll want to add to your personal music collection.  

Rounding out the changes to WEMU's weekend lineup is the return of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz.  Marian McPartland, who gave the world an intimate, insider's perspective on one of the most elusive topics in music — jazz improvisation — passed away in 2013, but her incredible legacy lives on.  For more than 40 years, she hosted this NPR program pairing conversation and duet performances that reached an audience of millions, connecting with jazz fans and the curious alike. She interviewed practically every major jazz musician of the post-WWII era.  WEMU is proud to welcome Marian and her program back to our airwaves Sunday at 6 a.m.

As always, we welcome your feedback.  If you have any questions, comments, concerns, observations, accolades, etc. please contact Program Director, Patrick Campion, via email at pcampion@emich.eduor during normal business hours at 734-487-2229.  
 
 

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