- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

K��Vlog��ýR named Best Radio Station

Janea Snyder — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 13:38:00 +0000

K��Vlog��ýR has once again been named Best Radio Station in the Arkansas Times annual Best of Arkansas Awards. “It’s an honor to be recognized by our listeners and the readers of the Arkansas Times as the Best Radio Station,” said Nathan Vandiver, K��Vlog��ýR’s interim general manager. “I have to feel that it’s a reflection of the hard work and listener-focused mission of NPR and K��Vlog��ýR working together to provide the best possible information for the country and our central Arkansas community.”�� For over 20 years, the Best of Arkansas issue has been the Arkansas Times’ largest issue of the year. Readers vote for their favorites in more than 100 categories. This year’s winners were announced Thursday, June 27, at the Albert Pike Masonic Center in Little Rock. K��Vlog��ýR has previously won Best Radio Station in the Times’ poll six times and has placed as a runner-up for several five years.�� “As a listener-supported service of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock – whether that’s news from central Arkansas, Washington D.C., or anywhere in the world, or the insightful interviews of “,” the differences in generational thinking presented by “,” or the best country music you haven’t heard of on “,” – K��Vlog��ýR will always focus on finding the best content, and fair and accurate information that helps our listeners. This honor is especially nice because it’s from the people in our region who rely on this service day in and day out.” In the photo top right, the K��Vlog��ýR staff collect their award for Best Radio Station. From left: Nathan Vandiver, interim general manager; Daniel Breen, All Things Considered host; Sarah Kellogg, Morning Edition host; J. Bradley Minnick, producer, Arts & Letters Radio; Michael Hibblen, news director; and Vanessa McKuin, development director.

Tiny Desk Arkansas event set for June 28

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:02:14 +0000

Three of central Arkansas’s best bands will perform Thursday, June 28, as part of NPR’s �𱹱�Գ�.�� K��Vlog��ýR FM 89.1, central Arkansas’s NPR station, and its regional program, “Arts & Letters” has announced Black Horse, Monsterboy, and Dazz & Brie as the three groups selected for Tiny Desk Arkansas. K��Vlog��ýR News Director Michael Hibblen will serve as the night’s emcee. The event will be held from 8-11 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m., at Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 107 River Market Ave., Little Rock. The fundraiser showcases three central Arkansas groups who entered NPR’s national Tiny Desk Concert competition. Proceeds will support local music through K��Vlog��ýR and “Arts & Letters.” “These groups are fun and very talented and are all performing for a good cause – to help support both K��Vlog��ýR and ‘Arts & Letters,’ an award-winning show that provides opportunities for a celebration of the arts and humanities in our region and beyond,” said J. Bradley Minnick, executive producer and host of “Arts & Letters.” Black Horse, a progressive surf-punk rock band who performs with an electric energy influenced by the 1960s, will take the stage at 8 p.m., followed by Monsterboy at 9 p.m.

Dazz & Brie

Monsterboy consists of husband-and-wife duo Chris Long and Veronica Wirges of Little Rock, who combine smart, original vocals with powerful sax music. Monsterboy’s reputation was enhanced by their acoustic set at Bonnaroo 2017, where they were featured and interviewed on MTV.com. Dazz & Brie will finish off the night with a 10 p.m. performance. The group was named Arkansas Times’ 2017 Musicians Showcase winners, the 2018 Kit-Kat Jingle winners, as well as ML Magazine’s Rising Idol. Reservations. There will be a recommended donation of $10 at the door. For more information, contact Vanessa McKuin, K��Vlog��ýR development director, at 501-569-8490 or svmckuin@ualr.edu. In the upper right photo, Chris Long and Veronica Wirges of Monsterboy are shown.��Photo by Nelson Chenault.

K��Vlog��ýR to host live recording featuring folk art of Ed Stilley

Janea Snyder — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 23:01:33 +0000

K��Vlog��ýR’s Arts & Letters program will host a live recording Thursday, April 26, about Kelly Mulhollan’s book “True Faith, True Light: The Devotional Art of Ed Stilley.” �� The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. , who have played with Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, will provide the music. In his book, Mulhollan documents the life of Ed Stilley, a farmer from Hogscald Hollow, Arkansas, who created more than 200 musical instruments from found objects: a rusty door hinge, a steak bone, a stack of dimes, springs, saw blades, pot lids, metal pipes, glass bottles, aerosol cans—anything he could use to build a working guitar, fiddle, or dulcimer. On each instrument Stilley inscribed “True Faith, True Light, Have Faith in God.” Mulhollan has collected some of Stilley’s hand-crafted instruments, which Polygraph Lounge’s Rob Schwimmer, Mark Stewart, and Melissa Fathman will play. Tickets are $10. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and ��Vlog��ý-Pulaski Tech faculty, staff and students get in free. Call 569-3294 or purchase online Friends of the Arts will host a reception with light hors d’oeuvres and beverages from 6:30–7:30 p.m. This event, which is part of the Chancellor’s Concert Series, is sponsored by Arts & Letters Radio, K��Vlog��ýR, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Music, The Friends of the Arts, The College of Arts, Letters and Sciences, and the College of Social Sciences and Communication.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock professor receives $50,000 for public radio program

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 14:16:59 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor has received a $50,000 commitment to create a partnership to continue a K��Vlog��ýR public radio show dedicated to humanities and literary arts in the South.�� The Arkansas Humanities Council signed a memorandum of understanding to award J. Bradley Minnick, associate professor in the Department of English, $10,000 a year for the next five years to continue the.�� “We want to highlight the intellectual work of the South, specifically the Arkansas and Mid-South region to share our rich tradition, history, and cultural production in our community,” Minnick said. Minnick is the executive producer and host of “Arts & Letters,” which airs at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Fridays of the month on K��Vlog��ýR to an audience of 8,000 to 12,000 listeners and is available for download as a podcast on artsandlettersradio.org, NPR, NPR One, Player FM, and iTunes. Now in its fourth season, “Arts & Letters” has aired more than 30 episodes. Episodes cover a wide range of arts and humanities topics from the to the search for in downtown Little Rock to the . The program also highlights the musical talents of central Arkansas and regional artists, who share their music. Minnick completes special four-minute episodes “Arts & Letters Shorts,” which highlight contributing musicians. In the upcoming season, viewers can look forward to an episode on spirit possession in the Arkansas Delta region as well a program about ��

Arts & Letters 2016-17 season kicks off with “Sundays with TJ”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 21:19:58 +0000

K��Vlog��ýR’s Arts & Letters kicks off its third season with a celebration of its 2016 Public Radio News Directors, Inc. award-winning episode for best long documentary, “Sundays with TJ,” at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, on K��Vlog��ýR 89.1 FM. In this episode, listeners take an unforgettable journey through the life of 107-year-old Garland County resident, Thomas James “TJ” Kearney, as told by his daughter, Janis Kearney. Kearney’s book, “Sundays With TJ,” examines TJ’s fascination with steamboats, his life as a wanderer, and his work as a sharecropper. This episode attempts to answer the one question most asked of TJ: What was the magical recipe to his longevity, his continued health, and his passion for life? His daughter attempts to answer the question in the only way she knows how, by telling his life story. “It depicts a deep bond between a father and daughter – the love and deep ties between parents and children solidly forged and never forgotten. T.J. Kearney’s life should be a monument to us all; a celebratory tale about keeping our priorities in order and not forgetting to nourish our dreams,” Arts & Letters Host J. Bradley Minnick said. Janis Kearney is a native of Gould, Arkansas. She is founder and publisher of Writing our World Publishing, an Arkansas-based micropublishing company, and author of five books, including “Cotton Field of Dreams: A Memoir,” an historical perspective of Gould, and a narrative on hers and her family’s extraordinary lives as cotton sharecroppers. The author and publisher purchased the Arkansas State Press Newspaper from Daisy Gatson Bates in 1988. She also served as personal diarist to President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 2001. This year, Public Radio News Directors, Inc. selected 173 awards to 72 public radio stations throughout the country. The organization hosts the annual competition amongst public radio station to acknowledge the very best of public radio. Produced by Minnick and sound engineer Christopher Hickey at K��Vlog��ýR at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arts & Letters is an educational radio show that strives to enlighten its audience and is dedicated to showcasing aspects of the humanities and literary arts in Arkansas and beyond. The episode was funded with a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Arts & Letters audio podcasts can be accessed ��on��K��Vlog��ýR.org, iTunes, or via . For more information, visit K��Vlog��ýR.org, call the station at 501.569.8485, or email arts&letters@ualr.edu.

Grant funds Arts & Letters broadcast on K��Vlog��ýR

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 22:21:42 +0000

With the help of a recent grant, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock associate professor’s Arts & Letters radio broadcast will continue to entertain and inform Arkansas audiences. Now in its third year, Arts & Letters, an innovative celebration of the humanities in Arkansas, recently garnered a $9,000 grant from the to fund another year of programming. Each 30-minute episode is packed with interviews, dramatizations, and original music, all tailored to a unique theme, ranging from local civil rights battles to the Arkansas alligator gar. Dr. J. Bradley Minnick, a ��Vlog��ýLR associate professor of English, is the creator, project director, host, and scriptwriter for the series, which airs on K��Vlog��ýR as well as online as a podcast. ’s Chris Hickey serves as the show’s sound engineer and associate producer; Shannon Lausch of the ��Vlog��ýLR Center for Arkansas History and Culture provides archival materials for various shows. This is the second consecutive year the council has sponsored Arts & Letters. Minnick describes the show as “kaleidoscopic,” meaning that it weaves together a variety of aural elements to create a cohesive scene. The producers use sound bites, interview clips, acting, music, and more to immerse the listener in a certain moment, whether it be 13th century Italy or a 1980s living room. As they create this experience, Arts & Letters team members also work to design a show that is engaging and appropriate for listeners of all ages. The program fills a major gap in current podcast offerings — few other shows pay adequate attention to the arts in the South, Minnick said. “If you look at a lot of the podcasts that are on now, they often highlight the intellectual work in the Northeast — New York, Boston,” Minnick explains. “And I really wanted to highlight the intellectual and cultural work that was being done in the South.” While they certainly feature ��Vlog��ýLR scholars and projects, Minnick and his collaborators are intentional about seeking stories from both within and outside the ��Vlog��ýLR community. “I think it’s really important that the folks in Little Rock have a sense of the neat stuff that’s happening not only at this university but regionally and at other universities in the area,” Minnick said. Listeners can access episodes of Arts & Letters on . Pictured in the upper right:��Dr. J. Bradley Minnick

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

K����Vlog��ýR named Best Radio Station