New Schedule FAQs

Q: Why the change?

In the last few years there’s been an explosion of exciting new radio shows and podcasts focused on news, politics, current events, arts and culture, science, and storytelling. As part of a move to expand our lineup and fit the best and widest possible diversity of news and talk-shows into the one hundred and sixty-eight hours we’re allotted each week, WVXU’s leadership has made the decision to stop airing shows which are based around musical recordings. Our new schedule will instead concentrate on programming with news, narrative, and talk formats, which is what we’re known for as a station, and which currently makes up more than 90% of our broadcast hours.

These changes can be seen in some ways as the culmination of a long process which began in 1979 when WVXU, then licensed to Xavier University, became an NPR member station and added Morning Edition to its then nearly all-jazz programming schedule. In 2005, Cincinnati Public Radio acquired WVXU from Xavier University and transferred the majority of its talk programming to WVXU’s lineup. WGUC will see no change to its wall-to-wall classical broadcasts, while WMUB’s schedule will mirror that of WVXU’s.

The importance of national and international media networks is that they’re stronger and much more comprehensive in scope than the sum of their parts. By expanding the number of shows from member stations and media partners that we make available to our listeners, we’re striving to broaden the horizons of choice that we can offer and increase the number of people who will find something here that’s for them.

Q: When will this change take place?

The first day of our updated schedule will be Saturday, August 14, 2021.

Q: What are you adding?

We at WVXU are excited to bring you a wide array of new programming from NPR, member stations across the country, and our media partners in the U.S. and overseas. The shows that we’re adding as part of this once in a decade programming tune-up represent eight stations and networks spanning four countries. They spotlight an extensive range of important topics, many of which have never before been given this level of attention on 91.7 FM.

Joining our roster of international partners are NHK World Japan and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with their shows Asian View and q with Tom Powers. Asian View is a short segment on international affairs in Asia, reported out of Tokyo, and q is “the leading arts, music and entertainment program in Canada,” featuring “whatever you're into—be it music, TV, film, visual art, theatre or comedy.” Both will air every weekday evening, Asian View at 7 p.m. and q at 9 p.m.

National and international coverage from the BBC World Service—which had previously aired only during the wee hours of the morning—will now also be available in a much more accessible 3 p.m. timeslot, Monday through Thursday, with the BBC Newshour. Another addition to our lineup from the BBC, The Arts Hour, will air on Friday and Saturday nights at 10 p.m.

The Takeaway — “America's weekday conversation” with interim host Melissa Harris-Perry—is a daily national and international news show from WNYC Studios in New York and PRX. The Takeaway, featuring live coverage from reporters in the field, discussions with special expert guests, and listener call ins, will air every weekday morning at 9 a.m.

Code Switch and Life Kit are two halves of a one-hour package deal podcast making its national debut as a broadcast program the same day that it airs for the first time on WVXU on August 14.

Code Switch, produced by NPR and hosted by Gene Demby, features “stories about race and identity to expand your mind… tackling the subject of race head-on, exploring how race impacts every part of society—from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.”

Life Kit, another NPR Production, is an assortment of practical how-to tips and tricks across a wide variety of topics—social, professional, psychological, economic, and more. Life Kit’s hosts “talk to the experts to get the best advice out there… to help you get it together.”

Code Switch and Life Kit will air at 11 a.m. on Saturdays and again at 10 p.m. on Mondays.

Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden with Jennifer Jewell, from North State Public Radio in California, is a show about gardening—but not just about gardening. Cultivating Place, according to Jewell, is “a voice for, with, and about gardeners and nature lovers of all manner around the globe, exploring how and why we garden… Through thoughtful conversations with growers, gardeners, naturalists, scientists, artists and thinkers.” Cultivating Place will air at 7 a.m. on Saturdays and again at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays.

A Way with Words is “a fun radio show and podcast about language examined through family, history, and culture.” Produced by independent studio Wayword, Inc. and hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, A Way with Words features discussions on “slang, old sayings, new words, grammar, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, and speaking and writing well,” as well as word games and quizzes, touching on current events and developments in contemporary language. A Way with Words will air on Sundays at 11 a.m. and again on Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio, produced by WGBH in Boston, features a high-profile panel of food journalists covering interesting and unusual culinary stories, going “anywhere and everywhere to ask questions and get answers about cooking, food, culture, wine, farming, restaurants, literature, and the lives and cultures of the people who grow, produce, and create the food we eat.” Milk Street Radio will air on Sundays at 1 p.m. and again on Tuesdays at 11 p.m.

PRX, or Public Radio Exchange, is the distributor of countless popular radio shows and podcasts as well as the parent company of Radiotopia, and encompasses the organization formerly known as Public Radio International, which it merged with in 2018.

PRX Remix and PRX Remix Select provide a wild-card selection from the interesting, up and coming shows in their ample portfolio so that you can be introduced to new shows and sample the best that PRX has to offer.

PRX Remix is a real-time, hourlong window into PRX’s twenty-four-hour stream made up of assorted short shows and podcasts from independent producers as well as Radiotopia, many of which “[aren’t] heard anywhere else.” PRX Remix will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 11 p.m.

PRX Remix Select is a weekly, curated, one-hour segment—a grab bag of shows and podcasts specially chosen from the PRX Remix stream. PRX Remix Select will air on Fridays at 11 p.m.

Q: What does this mean for the shows in WVXU’s existing lineup?

Much of the new content coming to WVXU is taking the place of encore broadcasts—for instance, the newly added news program The Takeaway replaces a duplicate airing of NPR’s Morning Edition. Morning Edition will, however, still be aired multiple hours during the morning drive time. In this way we hope to bring you plenty of fresh new content while keeping the majority of our shows in or close to their accustomed time slots.

Sunday continues to be prime time for weekly programs from our media partners and so its schedule will see the most shuffling in the order of its shows. However—as an illustration of the fact that there won’t be much substantive disruption to the schedule, despite appearances—we’ll note that only one show will be removed altogether from our Sunday lineup while three new ones are being added throughout the day.

Q: What programs are you no longer carrying?

Only six shows are being taken out of WVXU’s schedule. Of these six, four are focused on music, one is being discontinued by NPR’s national leadership and the other is Fresh Air Weekend, which is a rebroadcast of a weekday episode. In their place, we’ll be able to introduce eleven new programs to our airwaves.

Echoes with John Diliberto is a nationally syndicated ambient and electronic music show produced by PRX. It occupies a two-hour late-night slot, totaling ten hours a week, which will be filled by ten individual hour-long shows, six of which are brand new to 91.7. Echoes can be heard on its own website, as a podcast or download the free Echoes App.

Paul Ingles Music Archive Showcase is a music history, documentary, and appreciation show also produced and distributed nationally by PRX. It can be heard on PRX’s website.

The music, comedy, and trivia show Ask Me Another, hosted by Ophira Eisenberg and produced in New York by NPR, is set to end its nine-year run with a series finale in September. Some have cited the economic strain of Covid as having contributed to the decision to cancel the show despite popularity among a cult fanbase.

Jazz with OT was hosted by longtime WVXU and WGUC announcer Oscar Treadwell—who rubbed elbows with big names like Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie. Treadwell passed away in 2006 and so the show has, of course, consisted only of reruns for years. An archive of Jazz with OT segments can be found on WGUC’s Jazz HD2 channel, WGUC.org and WVXU.org music streams Friday from 10 p.m. – midnight.

Swing with Bill Cartwright is a big-band jazz golden-oldies show produced by WVXU. All of us at Cincinnati Public Radio warmly wish our friend Bill the very best in his well-deserved retirement and hope he keeps his music playing loud. An archive of Bill’s upbeat segments can be found on WVXU’s website.

Q: How can I support the station and this new programming?

You can give to WVXU anytime either by using our secure online form or by calling our membership department at 513-419-7155. Contact us for more information on membership and support.

Q: What if I have questions that haven’t been answered?

Our contact information can be found on WVXU’s contact page—we always welcome queries, comments, and tips from our listeners.

You can get in touch with us via email: wvxu@wvxu.org; by mail: 1223 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45214; on Facebook: facebook.com/917wvxu and Twitter: twitter.com/917WVXU; or by filling out our online contact form.