This is Rumblestrip by Marica Heilman, and this is a kind of emergency show. It's a conversation with Jay Allison about the recent attack on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Most of you probably already know about this recent rescission bill passed in Congress, which eliminates $9 billion in previously allocated funding, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public

Broadcasting, which effectively defunds public media, which includes NPR, PBS, and member

stations all around the country. So I figured it would be good to have a conversation about what that

means and what we stand to lose.

I called Jay Allison because he's been working in and around public radio since it started around a half century ago because he is old.

There's actually a regular Rumble Strip episode with Jay, which was recorded in happier times when we went

fishing and we talked about getting old. You can find a link to that show in the show notes.

Jay Allison has been an independent public radio producer and journalist and teacher since the 70s.

He's the founder of Transom, where I learned to make radio. His work has won a lot of awards, including six Peabody's. He produces the Moth Radio Hour, and he was the curator of this, I believe, on NPR. And maybe most important for this conversation, Jay founded WCAI 25 years ago at public radio station

in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where he lives. I called him from my closet, and we recorded a

conversation about where public radio came from and why we should probably try to keep it around.

Here's Jay Allison.

When you said you wanted to talk, I mean, on one hand, I'm really happy to talk to you about

this, and on the other hand, I'm really sad to talk to you about it. It's a watershed moment.

I mean, it's a moment, I think, in some ways similar to the founding of public

broadcasting, but... How's that? Because it's the beginning of something. At least that's the way

I like to think about it. Right. I mean, something is ending here that to many of us was a beautiful idea. Not always achieved,

but it entranced us. In fact, I have, I have like some of the original language. I just,

I printed it out and have it in front of me, like that hooked me when I was a kid. I went,

oh my God, I'll sign up for that. Did you have a beard then? No. No, no beard. No, I couldn't grow one. So you were what? You were 12? Like, where were you? How did this happen? No, I just, I, I, you know, people get hairier as they get older. I have found this to be true.

At that point, I was in my 20s.

...