So what would actually happen if Republicans in Washington defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? On this week’s show, we try to get the most detailed picture possible of what would actually happen if the Trump administration’s stated goal of totally defunding CPB becomes a reality this year.

We also consider one argument as to why the CPB should be defunded that has been articulated in recent days by an unlikely source: sitting CPB board member Howard Husock. He comes back to The Pub to discuss his Washington Post op-ed “Public broadcasting shouldn’t get a handout from taxpayers anymore.” (For what it’s worth, Husock didn’t write the headline.)

Plus, host Adam Ragusea consults with a Senate procedure expert and a lobbyist for public media organizations who used to be a Hill staffer about how likely it is that the CPB will really get the ax anytime soon.

Station Resource Group CEO Tom Thomas on What Defunding Would Do

Opening Shot: Everybody Relax, It Ain't Gonna Happen

Public media has an obsession lately with a certain word. As Only A Game senior producer Karen Given observes in this week’s episode of The Pub, “Just say the word ‘narrative’ and program directors and editors suddenly start paying attention. Everyone wants narrative. But what the f*** is it? I mean, we all use the word, but what does it even mean?”

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had the same question. All of the hottest shows — in particular those like This American Life and Snap Judgment that seem to transfer especially well from public radio to the podcasting market — feature what is often called “narrative storytelling.” And yet most people, when pressed, probably couldn’t explain the difference between “narrative storytelling” and any other method by which reporters and producers craft stories.

On this week’s episode, Given consults with TAL producer Sean Cole, among other sources, and finally comes up with a satisfying definition of “narrative,” though her journey there is surprisingly perilous and she is forever transformed by an experience that also hints at universal themes about life. (Am I doing narrative right?)

Also on the show, Niala Boodhoo celebrates the first anniversary of her new daily talk show, Illinois Public Media’s The 21st, and she shares her philosophy on how to make an interesting, inclusive local talk show in the 21st century (yes, that’s partly where the name comes from).

Niala Boodhoo, Host of Illinois Public Media's "The 21st", on How to Make a 21st-Century Talk Show

A radio show/podcast about what’s going on in podcasting? The Big Listen from WAMU and NPR is one part “best of podcasting” compilation show, one part industry-insider talk show, and a thousand parts Lauren Ober, its charismatic and affable host.

This week, on a show about other people’s shows, Ober talks about everything she’s learned from making her show about other people’s shows. (Everybody got that?)

Also this week, three simple words that will help you answer most questions you have about using copyrighted music in your programs.

Opening Shot: How to Know If Your Use of Music Is Legal

Whether they’re talking to your kids or to Congress, the hosts and characters of public media children's programming are powerful. They promote understanding, inclusion and education. Plus, they’re really entertaining.

But is children’s programming the future of public media?

Mel Kramer and Betsy O’Donovan say it is. In a white paper for the Knight Foundation, they argue that all of public media’s public funding should be spent on content for kids. And not just shows. O’Donovan and Kramer make the case for multimedia, easy-to-access content that reaches young viewers wherever they are. This not only makes for happy kids, they say, but for better citizens.

And it seems like it’s an urgent time to rethink children’s media. Strange, sometimes disturbing videos aimed at kids are winding up in front of impressionable eyeballs, thanks to some nefarious gaming of the YouTube algorithm. One critic puts the blame on the profit motive. Could this plan solve the growing problem?

But not everything online is dangerous. Facebook admits that the psychological effect of its service can vary based on how you use it. In the Opening Shot, we look at the contrast between positive and negative on social media.

Melody Kramer and Betsy O'Donovan on kids' programming as pubmedia's future

On this episode of Made Possible By…, public radio producer Andrea Asuaje talks with Michael Ambrosino, the creator of public television’s "Nova," about Ambrosino’s long career in public television and their shared connection to Boston’s WGBH. Asuaje is an associate producer for "Under the Radar with Callie Crossley" on WGBH-FM; Ambrosino was one of the early employees of the station when it occupied half of a defunct roller-skating rink in Boston.

Ambrosino looks back on his time with "Nova": “It’s a delight! We were given money and time and excellent air time to find out about the world. What can be better than that?” And he gives newcomers to public media some advice: “You can’t take ‘no’ for an answer. You must persist. And you must have the curiosity that asks ‘What is behind the first answer that I got to the first question?’”

‘Nova’ founder Michael Ambrosino

On this, the final episode of "Made Possible By...," we hear from a pioneer in bringing the bold work of independent filmmakers to public TV. Marc Weiss founded the documentary showcase POV in 1987. Here, he's interviewed by Nikki Heyman, currently a coordinating producer for the series.

"Many of the early filmmakers were just people who felt those stories needed to be told and nobody else was telling them, so they just picked up a camera and figured out how to do it," Weiss tells Heyman. "... There was a phrase that I started using in the early days of POV that documentary filmmakers were the poets and the prophets and the pamphleteers of our era."

Please subscribe to Made Possible By… in iTunes or your favorite podcast app and leave us a rating and a comment! That will help boost our search results and allow people to find the show more easily. "Made Possible By…" is also available on NPR One.

We welcome your feedback on the show: You can reach us at news@current.org or on Twitter at @currentpubmedia.

'POV' founder Marc Weiss

What are public media’s classical stations doing to innovate? For one station, the answer involves a throwback to an earlier broadcasting era.

Back in the day, radio and TV stations all had jingles. But thet tradition has fallen out of fashion — few stations have their own dedicated theme. Up until last year, KMFA in Austin, Texas, didn’t either.

On The Pub, KMFA Director of Broadcasting and Content Anthony McSpadden shares the story of how the station commissioned local composer Dan Welcher to write a theme to commemorate KMFA’s 50th anniversary. Other composers have written variations on the theme. It’s just one of the many ways KMFA is active in Austin’s vibrant music community.

Please subscribe to The Pub in iTunes or your favorite podcast app and leave us a rating and a comment! That will help boost our search results and allow people to find the show more easily.

We welcome your feedback on the show: You can reach me on Twitter; Current’s digital editor, Mike Janssen, is at mike@current.org; and you can contact Current generally at news@current.org or on Twitter.

If you’d like to offer a comment to be used in the program, please send on-mic tape (recorded in a studio, with a kit, a smartphone, anything) to annie@current.org either as an attachment or through Google Drive. Please keep it short!

Classical station KMFA's musical 50th-birthday gift to itself

If a major issue is affecting your community, chances are its impact reaches beyond your town line. That’s especially true of the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania, where the drug overdose rate is more than twice the national average. Earlier this year, Gov. Tom Wolf even issued a disaster declaration for Pennsylvania’s “heroin and opioid epidemic.”

Public television stations there are responding by collaborating on focused coverage of the crisis. The stations are working together to produce a series they call “Battling Opioids.”

The collaboration kicked off last month, and has already yielded cooperation from state agencies and won the support of Gov. Wolf.

On The Pub, I talk with Kathleen Pavelko, president and CEO of WITF in Harrisburg; David Solomon, EP at WQED in Pittsburgh; and Tom Currá, president and CEO of WVIA in Pittston.

Please subscribe to The Pub in iTunes or your favorite podcast app and leave us a rating and a comment! That will help boost our search results and allow people to find the show more easily.

We welcome your feedback on the show: You can reach me on Twitter, email Digital Editor Mike Janssen or contact Current by email or on Twitter.

If you’d like to offer a comment to be used in the program, please send on-mic tape (recorded in a studio, with a kit, a smartphone, anything) to annie@current.org either as an attachment or through Google Drive. Please keep it short!

How pubcasters are teaming up to address Pennsylvania's opioid crisis

Current provides news and commentary for and about the world of public media. You'll mostly find our weekly podcast, "The Pub," here.

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