Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Nowadays, scrappy pirate broadcasters rule over shortwave radio. On this week’s On the Media, an unlikely group of finance bros have plans to take over the frequencies for their own gain.
In recent years, creative, often music-focused pirate broadcasting has been thriving on shortwave radio. But these surreptitious broadcasters are up against a surprising enemy: Not the FCC, but a deep-pocketed group of finance bros that is trying to wrestle the airwaves away from the public, and use them for a money-making scheme completely antithetical to broadcasting. This week we share an episode of The Divided Dial, which first aired last year. Reporter Katie Thornton asks: What do we lose when we give up our public airwaves?
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram (instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en) , Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social) , TikTok (tiktok.com/@onthemedia) and Facebook (facebook.com/OnTheMedia) @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
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Nowadays, scrappy pirate broadcasters rule over shortwave radio. On this week’s On the Media, an unlikely group of finance bros have plans to take over the frequencies for their own gain.
In recent years, creative, often music-focused pirate broadcasting has been thriving on shortwave radio. But these surreptitious broadcasters are up against a surprising enemy: Not the FCC, but a deep-pocketed group of finance bros that is trying to wrestle the airwaves away from the public, and use them for a money-making scheme completely antithetical to broadcasting. This week we share an episode of The Divided Dial, which first aired last year. Reporter Katie Thornton asks: What do we lose when we give up our public airwaves?
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram (instagram.com/onthemedia/?hl=en) , Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/onthemedia.bsky.social) , TikTok (tiktok.com/@onthemedia) and Facebook (facebook.com/OnTheMedia) @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
