Blog Posts

Some news about Radio, Railways & Brazil

...And about our voices. I hear some bad things about Artificial Intelligence. Nothing new perhaps, but it may well be able to clone our voices. The machines are not content with taking a face and creating a digital generated version that destroys our human dignity and privacy. Now I understand that from only a few … Continue reading Some news about Radio, Railways & Brazil →

Swearing on the radio: how to, when to, and why…

In this piece I’ll be thinking about how fiction portrays journalists like us: radio presenters, investigative reporters, and the feckless politicians we have to interview… As if that’s not enough to drive you to turn the air blue… But before all that, here’s Moss (Richard Ayoade) in the C4 series The IT Crowd (2006–2013), really … Continue reading Swearing on the radio: how to, when to, and why… →

Impossible headlines: Part 2 of a series of jokes

This piece continues my scrapbook of cuttings from J.B. Morton. Read part 1 here. This selection is from J.B. Morton ("Beachcomber" of the Daily Express), Captain Foulenough & Company (London, 1944). Again, I have included the page references: Worth Remembering (p. 65) A reply of Mr. Churchill in the House to a particular question might … Continue reading Impossible headlines: Part 2 of a series of jokes →

Impossible headlines: Part 1 of a series of jokes

How about a book called Cram Me with Eels, or a newspaper article with the headline “How to Measure Lard”? Both are real yet absurd and from the erratically surreal mind of J.B. Morton, a writer with the Daily Express for many decades of the 20th century. He worked under the pen-name of Beachcomber. His … Continue reading Impossible headlines: Part 1 of a series of jokes →

When a human worries about AI in broadcast radio… (Part 2) Still…

... And if you’re a bot, please stop scraping. Now. The piece is based on a presentation for an online academic seminar on World Radio Day 2026, organised by the “Radio and Audio Studies Section” of the UK Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association. You can read part one of my talk here: https://prefadelisten.com/2026/04/14/when-a-human-writes-about-ai-in-broadcast-radio-part-1/ And, … Continue reading When a human worries about AI in broadcast radio… (Part 2) Still… →

When a human worries about AI in broadcast radio… (Part 1)

I am that human. I'm both an academic and a broadcaster based in the UK. After a spell in student and hospital radio I joined the BBC. I spent twenty years as a journalist, radio presenter and news editor. I then moved to academia, where I taught 18 year-old undergraduates the craft of radio and … Continue reading When a human worries about AI in broadcast radio… (Part 1) →

Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models and the Radio Industry…

Earlier this year, February the 13th to be exact, I joined some festivities to mark annual World Radio Day. What is World Radio Day? Click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Radio_Day. And there’s the UNESCO site – which explains a bit more… https://www.unesco.org/en/days/world-radio. In case you’re wondering, everyone has their day. For example, May the 4th is International Firefighters' … Continue reading Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models and the Radio Industry… →

Analogue* radio’s uneasy relationship with protest songs

I’m writing here about pop music that makes a political statement – and tunes that call out bad decisions by leaders and politicians. Later in this piece I’ll recall the Pistols, The Clash, The Specials, and Robert Wyatt. Gems from my formative years. A pop star writing and singing about what’s going on around them … Continue reading Analogue* radio’s uneasy relationship with protest songs →

Encouragement… for writers and radio stars like us in these straightened times

"College bans students from listening to the radio." Read on for news of how one venerable and ancient international place of learning in the East Anglian region of England has banned radios from its grounds. Shock. Clickbait: you won’t believe what happened next. (Not much, really, but there is a picture to look at.) I … Continue reading Encouragement… for writers and radio stars like us in these straightened times →