Posts Categorized: News

On Saturday January 9th’s Music of Words show where James explored songs all greater than 6 minutes! What – you can’t do that on radio…well we do at WMPG. Listen if you missed it, go to the program page at Music of Words for the program archive!

WMPG  aired the 22nd annual Homelessness Marathon on  December 9th from 6-10pm. Four hours of conversation where we’ll hear the voices of people living in Poverty and Homelessness. If you missed  you can listen here. Homeless Marathon Hour 1 Homeless Marathon Hour 2 Homeless Marathon Hour 3 Homeless Marathon Hour 4

WMPG was happy to broadcast a Covid-19 style graduation ceremony held recently for USM School of Nursing. If you missed it – check it out by clicking links below. Click here for the audio recording from the event. Click here for a brief video clip of the event. Click here for another brief video clip of the event.

WMPG’s Jazz movie series (JAM) is co-sponsoring a film with the Portland Museum of Art. Plan to watch “Jazz on a Summer Day” either virtually or in person at Thompson’s Point on August 21 and 22nd. For more info go to: www.portlandmuseum.org/films.

STUDENT COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Leyla Hashi ’20 When Leyla Hashi receives her diploma, like so many classmates she will become the first in her family to complete a college education. It is a special kind of story told over and over again, but Leyla’s journey to University of Southern Maine (USM) and her degree is particularly poignant. Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, she came to the United States at a young age, grew up in Boston attending public schools, and…

Salt’s Spring ‘20 Final Show, “All Things Reconsidered,” was broadcast on WMPG 90.9 fm radio in Southern Maine. Featuring the Spring 2020 cohort’s collection of Final Project work the show aired Thursday, May 7th. Listen Here

Welcome all to WMPG’s celebration of women’s history month by taking you on a small journey to explore the women’s suffrage movement. This week we be covering this part of our shared history, since this year, 2020 marks the 100 year centennial of women’s access to the democratic practice of voting – the single largest extension of democratic voting rights in American history. How did suffrage activist’s actually win? Who was left out? What did…

The Harp & Bard Irish Radio Program w/Jim Ward is returning to 90.9 WMPG-FM on Sunday, March 15th from 10:30am to 3:30pm (est) for a Pre-St. Patrick’s Day Radio Celebration! This one-time special is in celebration of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday on March 17th and will feature great Irish music and legends of the Irish music scene from Greater Boston and Ireland! Among our guests will be: 11:00am – Margaret Dalton (Erin’s Melody) 11:45am…

Thanks to everyone who helped make the 2020 WMPG Fat Tuesday Cajun Cookin’ Contest happen! Great crowd, great food, great music! The house was packed and more than 400 people voted for the best of the best! The results are in! Winners of the 25th Annual WMPG Fat Tuesday Cajun Cookin’Challenge: 1st Place: SMCC Culinary Arts Program Students! Jambalaya Fritters 2nd Place: Lenny’s Pub, Kori Reece, head chef: Hush Puppy Poutine 3rd Place: Ruski’s, Greg…

Great article in the USM Free Press by Max Lorber The Origin of WMPG The WMPG radio station was founded with a private collection of records, a set of turntables and a small pirate-radio transmitter in a dorm room on Gorham campus. Howard Allen, the pioneer who created what would become one of Maine’s major public radio platforms, was an 18-year-old freshman when he first stuck an antenna out of his window at Anderson Hall…

Sadly, weather has caused the cancellation of Friday’s True Blues show with Corey Harris and Cedric Watson at Stone Mountain Arts Center. Carol Noonan and her crew express regrets, and are planning to select anther show to benefit WMPG in the near future. Happy Snow Day, all!

On WMPG’s Monday night program Let’s Talk, Abdi Iftin, a Somali refugee, USM student Abdi and the author of the riveting memoir “Call Me American” was a guest and spoke with Dave Wade about his escape to the US from worn torn Mogadishu and his lengthy journey to become an American citizen. Gain insight into what Abdi went through. Click here to listen. Abdi’s book: Call Me American

Kate Manahan, host of WMPG’s New Mainers Speak won second place in the Public Affairs category at the 2019 Maine Association of Broadcasters awards ceremony which took place in Augusta. This is a statewide event with all the television and radio stations submitting their best work. WMPG is proud that Kate’s show was honored. New Mainers Speak highlights individuals from around the world. Kate interviews them about their personal experiences in their home countries, as well as here in Maine. Click here to listen to a special…

WMPG now has a large selection of podcasts for you to enjoy. We feature audio not heard regularly on WMPG’s airwaves. Check it out and maybe become a MPG’ Podcast Follower! Interested in live music recorded at WMPG’s studio? Lorenzo presents Podcast Open Mic(POM). This pod has over 50 episodes and features local musicians and more. Wonder what is playing at the cinema? Check out Film Time With Cody Curtis. How about what life is…

Want to learn more about your favorite WMPG DJs? Here is a video look into what makes our DJs so special. First up let’s meet Ad vs EF with DJs Matt Perry and Sean Gear. They talk about their show and then you are taken into the On-Air room and watch them produce the show. Volunteer DJ Jai has created video profiles of the WMPG DJs. Click here to view video profile!

Monday Jan 21st WMPG presented a special 2 hour tribute to the life of Reverend King. WMPG DJ’s Jam, Rio, DJ M., and Don played music and had discussions about how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. influenced them and the world. You can hear the entire show Listen Now

Want to know about some great new music? Our USM students are doing weekly reviews of what’s currently charting at the top, this is music you should be in the know about. Join Kirby, Rachel and Madeline as they break down why these albums are so good! Listen to Lana Del Rabies Listen to Love in the Time of Email

One of WMPG’s longest serving volunteers Paul O’Neil has called it a day and retired his Harp & Bard Irish music show. Paul has been with us for more than 30 years! We all at WMPG wish him well on new adventures! Listen to his last show Thanks Paul!

Talk show host Richard Doherty met with students from King Middle School to talk about PODCASTS and making great radio stories. The students will be producing short audio features that highlight environmental issues. The students and Richard held a workshop USM’s Talbot Auditorium where they learned about recording, writing and producing a podcast. Look for these stories on Ecotones heard Thursdays at 1pm, and in the future the students will have their own Podcast. Thanks…