During our first on-air fund drive, WOWD’s passionate programmers asked for your support by sharing personal, compelling stories about the station and the community. Programmers who let their dedication and belief in Takoma Radio shine - beyond their show - were Steve Hoffman, Clyde Ensslin, Wayne Kahn, Heather Livingston, Michael Hart, Deborah Jaffe and Robbie White. YOU, the listener, responded with a resounding “YES!” by phone, online and in-person during the week of special programming. You gave over $26,000. With your continued enthusiasm and support, we will keep on TRuckin’.

Takoma Radio is proud to bring a new generation of audio drama to the WOWD airwaves. Silver Spring Inquiries is a modern noir audio drama series produced locally in Silver Spring, MD. Follow the heroes of the story as they hunt for answers and soon discover that the more they uncover, the further the mystery goes. Writer/director/producer Nate Fisher is inspired by classic radio shows but also "heavily influenced by programs such as The Wire, Serial, and similar genres."

Episodes range from 10 to 15 minutes with a double-length finale. Each week, Nate presents an episode from season one along with extra features to give the listener behind-the-scenes access

The project was conceived as a way to showcase  the talented artists in the region in hopes of generating more local productions and building our arts and entertainment community. With few exceptions, the talent behind this project is local. Takoma Radio shares a hyper-local mission which makes our station an ideal platform for Silver Spring Inquiries. We look forward to more collaborations with Createrly, the Silver Spring-based production company behind Silver Spring Inquiries. They are  pushing the boundaries of storytelling across digital media.

Silver Spring Inquiries debuts on WOWD this Sunday, October 1, at 3 pm and will run for 10 weeks with a special marathon rebroadcast over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Takoma Radio launched its youth media program URadio on August 21 with a week of orientation. This year-long afterschool program trains a dozen teenagers to record audio, conduct interviews, and produce radio pieces that will air on 94.3 FM.

During Ramp Up Week, URadio participants met one another and several station producers, listened to a variety of youth-produced pieces to ignite their creativity, and covered important introductory topics such as active listening and media literacy. Students also created station bumps, which are now broadcasting. Have you heard one?

Interested in joining URadio? We are still taking interested youth ages 14-19. Apply for a spot on our website.

On July 16th, 2016 the first sounds of Takoma Radio were broadcast from our storefront studio on Westmoreland Avenue to the ether and beyond (with the help of our live stream online of course.) Getting there wasn't easy - it took five years of organizing, training, and fundraising to produce the equipment, programming, and enthusiasm to get this project off the ground. But once 94.3FM came alive with our voices, people got it. They understood that the station is a powerful tool for engaging the community. It's a means to foster understanding, strengthen bonds, and discover our neighbors in new light.

Through the work of our all-star Programming Committee, highly skilled tech team, and countless other individuals donating their time, Takoma Radio has launched 53 programs on the air since July 2016. We have 80 trained volunteer programmers who now produce 75 hours of original programming each week. Most of our programmers live within our broadcasting range - all have a connection with Takoma. We want our station to represent the whole range of who lives here. With over 18 genres on the air, and a diversity of talk, dramatic, and syndicated programming, we are getting there.

Moving forward we would like to bring more unheard voices from the community to our airwaves. We will soon be launching a youth media program so  local teens can learn the skills and responsibilities involved with radio production. Also, we’re adding a community youth hour to our program schedule so young people can drop in and share music, poetry, and stories from their lives. We aim to offer more programming in Spanish, French, and Amharic to target different language groups. And we will bring back studio open houses - times in which community members can drop by and see live radio at work - and even bring a couple tracks to play on the air. We hope to use this type of innovative programming to move us toward our mission of building community through radio.

Interested in being a part of what we are building here at Takoma Radio? Visit TakomaRadio.org to apply for a show, to learn about our projects, and to support our initiatives with a tax-deductible donation.

With love,

Trex