Norman Gilliland has hosted “Old Time Radio Drama” on Wisconsin Public Radio since 1989. This weekend will be the last show.
Wisconsin Public Radio is canceling its long-running weekend program “Old Time Radio Drama,” with station officials citing the “racist and sexist material” present in many of the plays of the Golden Age of Radio.
“Many of these plays and productions were produced more than 60 years ago,” Wisconsin Public Radio director Mike Crane said in a statement on Friday. “Despite significant effort over the years, it has been nearly impossible to find historic programs without offensive and outdated content.”
“Old Time Radio Drama” will air its final episode this weekend. It is carried by most stations in WPR’s sister network, The Ideas Network, around Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday nights. The show is hosted by Norman Gilliland, who will continue his roles on several other Wisconsin Public Radio shows such as “Chapter a Day.”
Beginning the weekend of June 20, the time slot will be filled with “PRX Remix,” described as a showcase of “some of the best stories, podcasts and documentaries from independent creators and the PRX podcast network Radiotopia.”
Crane added that such a program is more in line with the central mission of WPR and The Ideas Network than classic radio drama.
Read more HERE.
I listened to the show for years, so hearing that the show was ending was very disappointing.
All the radio shows featured are freely available, so I decided to put together my own version of the show. The format is basically the same, about 3 hours worth of old time radio shows. If you enjoyed the WPR show, I think your will enjoy this too:
https://www.oldtimeradiodrama.com/
New episodes come out every Saturday and Sunday evening at 7pm.