About Us. . .

The Postmodern Experience is a program on Kent State University's student-run internet radio station Black Squirrel Radio. The show is formatted in a classic radio sort of way, with storytelling in mind. The writer's voice, his or her spoken word, takes center stage and each story tends to take on a life of its own.

PME was concieved by English major Ryan deBiase in November of 2005. The word "conceived" is used lightly, as he basically copied the idea directly from Public Radio International's This American Life. Maybe you're familiar with the program hosted by Ira Glass. If not, it is strongly recommended that you visit their site.

Here's the link:
This American Life Homepage.

The TAL site has archived recordings going back to 1996, so you should check them out if you have the time.

In terms of production, PME is strongly reliant upon the Kent writing community to send us their work. Charles Parsons, the submissions director, dilligently reviews each work sent in and tries his darnest to fit it into our themes. He even goes so far as to send out revision ideas to promote the best possible work for broadcast.

After the work is revised, the piece is passed on to production director Ryan deBiase. Ryan contacts the writer and sets up a time to record. Usually, recording is done done during our weekly meetings in Satterfield, sometime in the evening. However, the recording schedule is flexible, in order to conform to each writer's schedule. Plus, Ryan has very little going on. Ever.

After the spoken word portion is recorded, Ryan layers music into the story. This can be done to make it more dramatic, emotional, humorous, etc. Writers are strongly encouraged to choose music they would like to be used in their piece. Ryan is usually pretty accepting in these matters, though final production decisions ultimately fall into his hands.

Each segment is then compiled to form a coherent episode that corresponds to the week's theme. Ryan records his opening to the show and all the segues between stories, slaps it onto a CD and [voila!] you have classic radio. Or at least internet radio.

Charles and Ryan feel that The Postmodern Experience provides a great opportunity for creative writers in Kent to promote their own work. Tell your friends, because if more people listen, more people will hear your work!

And feel free to email with any questions:

postmodern.experience@gmail.com