One such avenue that we hope to begin bringing to fruition within the not-too-distant future is Earthrise Radio. The concept for Earthrise Radio was born during the course of a weekly radio program, "The Other Side of the Sky," that was hosted by Earthrise Institute President Alan Hale from 2004 to 2006 on KUPR-FM in Alamogordo, New Mexico (and simulcast on KHII-FM in Cloudcroft, New Mexico). "The Other Side of the Sky" featured a free-wheeling format that included music from a wide variety of genres and traditions (and which included, on a semi-regular basis, the feature "Songs from the Earth" that contained music from nations and cultures all over the planet), as well as discussions on a variety of topics (scientific, current events, and otherwise) and interviews with numerous diverse guests.
With Earthrise Radio we plan to build upon the traditions we began with "The Other Side of the Sky" and expand these into a full-time format. We will continue to feature music from a wide variety of genres, traditions, and cultures, as well as our discussions of scientific findings and current events -- especially those that relate to the Earthrise concept and mission. We plan to offer a positive message that reflects the common humanity that Earthrise is all about.
In our development of Earthrise radio we expect to begin locally, on one of the radio stations in the southern New Mexico area. Once this is underway and operating we will be exploring ways of expanding this into a more global effort; these may include a network of stations, satellite radio broadcasts, web streaming, production of syndicated programming, and/or various other methods. We eventually hope to have Earthrise Radio become a global phenomenon with components from around the world, and that will be accessible by every person on this planet.
At the present time Earthrise Radio is still very early in the planning stages, and is very much a work in progress. In the meantime, to get a feel for what we plan for Earthrise Radio, check out a list of some of the guests interviewed on "The Other Side of the Sky" as well as a representative (and relatively small) sample of the musical artists we featured on the program. Some sample broadcasts of "The Other Side of the Sky" are available (for donations to the Institute) via the Earthrise Store.
UPDATE (OCTOBER 22, 2007): The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently had a window wherein it was accepting applications for new non-commercial educational FM radio stations. With a lot of assistance from the Prometheus Radio Project and R.M. Smith Associates, the Earthrise Institute has successfully filed an application with the FCC. It will probably be several months before we learn whether or not our application is approved.
If our application is indeed approved, we will be able to use our new station to test various programming components and other elements of Earthrise Radio. As indicated above, our initial broadcasts will probably be limited to the nominal listening area in southern New Mexico, although we would expect to begin exploring avenues for larger audiences (e.g., through web streaming, podcasting, etc.) within the not-too-distant future thereafter. Stay tuned for further details!
UPDATE (NOVEMBER 12, 2007): The FCC has posted the various license applications that have been filed during the recent window; one can now view our summary and our full application. There are four other applications that have been filed that are potential competitors of ours; it may take several months before we learn the final status of our application.