172 [S3E19]: WFHB Community Radio and the Key Piece of City Real Estate That Created an Institution

In 1991 the city of Bloomington sold the rights to its 1915 City Hall building to nonprofit groups. One group made most of it what you know today as the John Waldron Arts Center. Another group acquired the attached old Fire Station No. 1: with the money it raised they made it the home of Bloomington's community radio station, WFHB, which got its call letters because they stand for Fire House Broadcasting. That conveyance of a city building has been a key reason for WFHB's successful operation for more than 30 years. Money for operations can be scarce, and rent has been the undoing of more than one worthy community radio station around the country.

A community radio station is like a public radio station in that it's non-commercial and supported by underwriting and listener contributions; unlike a public station, most of the programming is also done by volunteers. Our guests are Jar Turner,  the general manager of WFHB, and Brooke Turpin, its development director. They talk about what a community radio station does, how it helps make community, how you can benefit from it, and how you can support it.