WFMU presents a festival celebrating radio's future as it takes on new forms in the digital age for the medium's fans, tinkerers, and future thinkers. A special opening night performance with Radio Legend Joe Frank, a day of talks, panel discussions and performances, and a hack day for programmers and digital media makers. The festival runs concurrently with the WFMU Record Fair.

Joe Frank

Too Close to Home, arguably Frank's most intimate piece for the stage to date, reveals his conflicted relationship with his parents as he recounts his visit with them in a Florida retirement community. Through his unique lens, Frank shines a light on feelings many of us experience with those closest to us: love, empathy, understanding, revulsion, rage, panic, and at times the desire to flee. Moving and funny, uncomfortable and ironic, Too Close to Home offers, once again, a starkly frank perspective.

Ira Glass

Ira Glass started working in public radio in 1978, when he was 19, as an intern at NPR's headquarters in DC. Over the next 17 years, he worked on nearly every NPR news show and did nearly every production job they had: tape-cutter, desk assistant, newscast writer, editor, producer, reporter, and substitute host. He spent a year in a high school for NPR, and a year in an elementary school, filing stories for All Things Considered. He moved to Chicago in 1989 and put This American Life on the air in 1995.

Tom Scharpling

Tom Scharpling is one half of the renowned comedy duo Scharpling & Wurster, who have been doing their thing since 1997. Tom is the host of the legendary radio program, "The Best Show on WFMU." Tom is also a writer and co-executive producer on the award winning television program Monk. He is the co-writer of the screenplay Jeff the Demon, which was bought by New Line and will hopefully be in production in 2007. But he's not counting on it — you know how that shit goes. He is working on a variety of very exciting projects with Jon Wurster that you will hopefully hear more about very soon!

Marc Maron

I am first and foremost a standup comic. I have appeared on TV, in film, on the staff, in print, on the radio, but all I ever wanted to be, and what I am now, is a stand up comic. I've appeared on just about every show that allows standup comics.

Rebecca Gates

Rebecca Gates is a US based musician, curator, artist and audio editor. She has released four albums, three as leader of the critically acclaimed group The Spinanes (Sub Pop), toured internationally and appeared as a vocalist on numerous records by artists as wide ranging as The Decemberists and Willie Nelson. Gates co-curated The Marfa Sessions, an exhibition of sonic land art installations by US and international artists in Marfa, Texas. She was editor and co-founder of The Relay Project audiomagazine, a sound-only periodical featuring content from a variety of editorial and sonic sources which will be re-launched in 2011 as Sonoset Magazine. She currently performs solo and with a combo under the Consortium moniker.

Jón Gnarr Kristinsson

Jón Gnarr Kristinsson is an Icelandic actor, comedian, politician and the mayor of Reykjavík, since 15 June 2010. In late 2009 Jón Gnarr formed the Best Party, with a number of other people with no background in politics, including Einar Örn Benediktsson formerly with the Sugarcubes. The Best Party, which is a satirical political party that parodies Icelandic politics and aims to make the life of the citizens more fun, managed to win the 2010 municipal elections in Reykjavík,with the party gaining 6 out of 15 seats on the City Council (34.7 percent of the vote). His political program includes "free towels in all swimming pools, a polar bear for the Reykjavík zoo, all kinds of things for weaklings, Disneyland in the Vatnsmýri area, a drug-free parliament by 2020, sustainable transparency, tollbooths on the border with Seltjarnarnes, to do away with all debt, free access to Hljómskálagarðurinn (orchestral rotunda park).

Heiða Helgadóttir

General Secretary at Best Party Heiða Kristín Helgadóttir received a BA in political science from the University of Iceland in 2009 and graduated top five in her class. During her studies, she worked as a representative in the International Office at Reykjavik University. After graduation she was hired as head of communications for a local research lab, but she didn't stay there long, as politics soon came calling. In January 2010, Heiða accepted an assignment as campaign manager for The Best Party (Besti Fokkurinn – an Icelandic political party) for the municipal elections in the spring of 2010. This newly founded political party would go on to win a phenomenal victory, securing 34.7% of the vote and six seats in the city council, making it the largest party in Reykjavik and the majority seat holder in the council.

Vicki Bennett

Since 1991 British artist Vicki Bennett has been an influential figure in the field of audio visual collage, through her innovative sampling, appropriating and cutting up of found footage and archives. Using collage as her main form of expression, she creates audio recordings, films and radio shows that communicate a humorous, dark and often surreal view on life. These collages mix, manipulate and rework original sources from both the experimental and popular worlds of music, film, television and radio. People Like Us believe in open access to archives for creative use, and have made work using footage from the Prelinger Archives, The Internet Archive, and A/V Geeks. In 2006 she was the first artist to be given unrestricted access to the entire BBC Archive. People Like Us have previously shown work at Tate Modern, The Barbican, Sydney Opera House, Pompidou Centre, Maxxi in Rome and Sonar, and performed radio sessions for John Peel and Mixing It. The ongoing sound art radio show 'DO or DIY' on WFMU has had over a million "listen again" downloads. since 2003. The People Like Us back catalogue is available for free download hosted by UbuWeb. Vicki has her first solo London show "The Doors of Perspection" at Vitrine Gallery in Bermondsey Square in July-September 2011. A new People Like Us CD "Welcome Abroad" was released in May 2011 on Illegal Art. People Like Us have just completed a new live a/v set "Horror Collage" commissioned by Sound and Music to be premiered at The Sound Of Fear at London's Southbank Centre in September 2011.

DJ /rupture

DJ /rupture has performed in over 25 countries, released records on Soul Jazz & Tigerbeat6, DJ'ed in a band with Norah Jones, done two John Peel Sessions, and was turntable soloist with the 80-member Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. What's Rupture sound like? A border-crossing bass visionary. His dynamic live sets simultaneously partyrock and suggest complex political undertones. Download his highly-influential Gold Teeth Thief mix from 2001. Each Monday evening from 7-8pm, Rupture hosts a radio show on NYC-area FM station WFMU, 91.1 fm, featuring lots of international exclusives and live guests. You can listen online & stream the archives.

Andy Baio

Andy Baio is an American technologist and blogger. He is the founder of Upcoming.org, a former CTO of Kickstarter.com, and author of the Waxy.org blog. Baio writes mostly about technology and media on Waxy.org, and publishes a sideblog known as Waxy Links. Baio often takes a stand against censorship on the Internet by hosting or linking to controversial content which some parties wish to suppress. This ranges from unauthorized mashups and other artwork where parody or fair-use claims are disputed newsworthy video, such as that of 2008 United States vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin competing in a beauty pageant. Baio has also written for Wired magazine and The New York Times, and was a staffer on R. U. Sirius' online magazine GettingIt.com.

Gabriella Coleman

Trained as an anthropologist, Gabriella (Biella) Coleman examines the ethics of online collaboration/institutions as well as the role of the law and digital media0 in sustaining various forms of political activism. Between 2001-2003 she conducted ethnographic research on computer hackers primarily in San Francisco, the Netherlands, as well as those hackers who work on the largest free software project, Debian. Her first book, "Coding Freedom: The Aesthetics and the Ethics of Hacking" is forthcoming with Princeton University Press and she is currently working on a new book on Anonymous and digital activism. She is the recipient of numerous grants, fellowships, and awards, including ones from the National Science Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Social Science Research Council and the Institute for Advanced Study. She is an Assistant Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU.

Yancey Strickler

Yancey Strickler is the cofounder of the Brooklyn-based Kickstarter. Yancey formerly served as Editor in Chief at eMusic, where he created and produced a TV series and founded a record label. His writing has appeared in Pitchfork, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. He received his Bachelors from the College of William & Mary.

Jake Shapiro

Jake Shapiro is founding CEO of Public Radio Exchange (PRX Inc.) an award- winning nonprofit whose mission is to harness technology to bring compelling content to millions of people. Since its launch in 2003 PRX has been an innovator in public media, pioneering new distribution models, developing mobile applications, and investing in significant stories and programs from new voices. PRX is the recipient of the 2011 Peabody Award for Excellence in Electronic Media for The Moth Radio Hour; the 2011 Webby Award for the This American Life iPad app; the 2010 Knight News Challenge, and the 2008 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. In 2010 Jake was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship, supporting his social entrepreneurship work in new media. Prior to PRX, Jake was Associate Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, where he remains on the Fellows Advisory Board. Jake is a frequent speaker at media and technology events and is an advisor and consultant to a variety of public media organizations, media funders, and Internet startups. He is also an independent musician and has recorded and performed on guitar and cello with numerous groups, most frequently with original rock band Two Ton Shoe. Jake lives near Boston with his wife and their three children.

Jeff Tammes

With nearly fifteen years of marketing experience, Tammes created Cornerstones Lifestyle Marketing Department ten years ago. Excelling at marrying brands and music, Tammes has designed the music strategies for such A-list brands such as Converse, Mountain Dew, Nike, Kia, Diageo, Pepsi and Unilever. Tammes holds a BS in Communications from Ithaca College.

Glenn Otis Brown

Glenn is Director of Business Development at Twitter in New York City. His team works on Twitter media partnerships in news, television, sports, and music. Before Twitter, Glenn worked at YouTube, as head of music partnerships, and Google, as products counsel. He is on the board of directors of Creative Commons, where he was executive director for the organization's first three years. He has been a lecturer at Stanford Law School, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a judicial clerk in the US Courts of Appeals, and, briefly, a print journalist. Glenn went to the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Law School.

Christina Xu

Christina Xu Working for Breadpig, starting the Institute on Higher Awesome Studies, serving as a trustee on the Boston Awesome Foundation, scheming up the next ROFLCon, making music as part of Anigif. The Awesome Foundation was founded in Boston by 10 friends. Now with chapters worldwide, the independent, self-funded foundation awards $1,000 grants monthly to small projects they deem "awesome".

Tim Hwang

Broseph Stalin is Tim Hwang. Currently a partner at the law offices of Robot, Robot & Hwang. He also serves as Chief Scientist of the Pacific Social Architecting Corporation. This summer, he's working as a legal intern with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Planned/Co-Founded ROFLCon, The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, The Institute on Higher Awesome Studies and The Web Ecology Project. Formerly a researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and a strategist/analyst at The Barbarian Group. Likes Choco Tacos.

Kenyatta Cheese

Hello. My name is Kenyatta Cheese. I create, study, and foster media, culture, and technology. I create projects that help decentralize media and understand culture. I became an early evangelist of online video and helped shape the aesthetics of online video with early web projects like BrowseTV, WiFiTV, and vogbrowser. In 1998 I started a weblog at kenyattacheese.net. That same year I started a weblog for Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the public access television station in New York City. Three months later they asked me to stop. I co-created the web series and internet meme database Know Your Meme. Time Magazine selected it as one of their top websites of 2009. From 2007-2010 I ran Operations for the internet video content studio Rocketboom. I also advise NGOs in the arts and media technology. I sit on the Advisory Board of the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology. In past iterations, I have served as Senior Technical Manager at the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology, and Director of Technology for Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Bre Pettis

Bre Pettis is a founder of Makerbot, a company that produces robots that make things. Bre is also a founder of NYCResistor, a hacker collective in Brooklyn. Besides being a TV host and Video Podcast producer, he's created new media for Etsy.com, hosted Make: Magazine's Weekend Projects podcast, and has been a schoolteacher, artist, and puppeteer. Bre is passionate about invention, innovation, and all things DIY.

Kenneth Goldsmith

Kenneth Goldsmith is an American poet. He is the founding editor of UbuWeb, teaches Poetics and Poetic Practice at the University of Pennsylvania and is Senior Editor of PennSound. He hosted a weekly radio show at WFMU from 1995 until June 2010. He has published ten books of poetry, notably Fidget (2000), Soliloquy (2001) and Day (2003) and Goldsmith's American trilogy, The Weather (2005), Traffic, (2007) and Sports, (2008). He is the author of a book of essays, Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in a Digital Age (2011). As editor he published I'll be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews (2004) and is the co-editor of Against Expression: An Anthology of Conceptual Writing (2011).

Brooke Gladstone

Brooke Gladstone joined National Public Radio in 1987, as senior editor of Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, and later assumed the same role for NPR's daily newsmagazine, All Things Considered. During this time she edited several award-winning reports and was the recipient of a Peabody Award, an Overseas Press Club Award, and an Ohio State Award, among other honors. In 1995, she became NPR's first media correspondent, examining the coverage of race, science, and politics, and reporting on the battle between Hollywood and the many guardians of American culture, media mergers, advertising trends, and journalism's evolving ethics. She joined WNYC in 2000 to become managing editor and co-host, with Bob Garfield, of WNYC's national weekly analysis program, On The Media. Gladstone's freelance articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The London Observer, The American Journalism Review, and In These Times, among others.

Hack Day: Reinventing Radio with the FMA, the Echo Nest and Zeega WFMU and the Free Music Archive invite hackers, musicians, digital storytellers and DIY media-makers to devote a day to reinvent radio using images, social media, and open archive materials.

featuring

Zeega - a creative community and open-source platform for inventing new forms of storytelling and interactive documentaries

the Echo Nest - a music intelligence API for developers to build search, personalization and interactive music applications

The Free Music Archive - a curated library of music that wants to be shared