* The saying Phanta Rhei is a statement that means ‘everything flows’. The concept is attributed to the Greek pre-Socratic writer and philosopher Heraclitus (c.530-475 BC).
The idea behind this statement is that everything in the world is always in motion: you cannot cross exactly the same river twice, because the flow is always different.
Plato: ‘Everything seems to flow’ (Cratylus, 439d).
TALK RADIO
“Nachtvlucht”/Nightflight” 1395 AM Amsterdam.
The night has begun to trap us in the darkness of the past day, so this -former-
Talk Host heads for the studio. First a coffee on arrival, to stay informed before
the start of my daily radio show “Nachtvlucht”, Talk Radio 1395 AM / Amsterdam.
(around 1997/1998)
It actually started in Hilversum at the studio’s of the-former- World broadcast organization.
Later on we went to Amsterdam.
With Bart de Jong as a permanent colleague, with a lot of experience in radio and life plus a beautiful deep voice. Technique: Ronald “the hardest”.
In 4 hours could listeners respond on the topics of that day & night and also plus invitees,
all by phone and AM -radio.
We had a pretty simple maxim: “No swear words or threats”, against anyone.
Also no racist slogans or shocking for the sake of shocking, but respect for the listener
and each other. Dissenting opinions were not a problem if motivated.
In case of controversial guests or topics, I report this to my listening audience in advance.
Often there was a follow-up by my audience, but with a reasonable discussion and/or explanation. Freedom of expression is a great good that deserves appreciation and protection.
“Life” studio interview with guests who have different priorities and views than yourself requires some tact to keep the conversation honest and open.
The beauty of a radio station:
You can choose to listen or change the dial, finding another channel to explore.
The unexpectedness of a radio show as opposed to Streaming Services, be it spoken word or music, is something different to me than coming up with your own playlist, deciding for yourself what/who your choice is and mood for the day.
To never be surprised again by an unknown song or that artist, perhaps who also
doesn’t play a common sound, with that crazy/funny cover version of your favorite song,
a protest song…
It seems like a lack of adventure and discovery to me.
Listening to each other is a start to understand those other points of view,
to forming your own opinion, and train of thought that aligns with your ideas or not.
Daring to doubt yourself takes some courage and a little working brain, comes in handy :).
On a certain evening, a new (co)host arrived as a test, a somewhat well-known Dutchman,
who liked to provoke.
Then the sound got a completely different voice, unexpectedly it was all about
(hard) sex without nuance, regular listeners were completely, unpleasantly, surprised.
That evening I had taken over the role of “Screener” for the incoming calls.
The total attention, also from a lot of (new) participants in the “live show”, was a success in numbers, but the protests poured in, after consultation during the show with the channel management, the choice was made them to continue or not with this experiment.
(market share had to go up…:)
To the relief of many, it stayed with that one time, also for me by the way.
(yes, I’m a “softy”)
Talk Radio
in the Netherlands only existed for a short amount of time.
Photo by A. Horlings.
(Management without vision & radio feeling, the internet only existed for a short time, but was not embraced… and more to come: Follow the Money reporting)
After a lot of hassle it has now grown into a full-fledged news channel:
BNR (Business News Radio) Award winning for media Innovation.
Still, many people do like to have their say than just on social media platforms.
(would like to host again in the night between 1 am and 5 am, local time… )
My approach was to make yourself and others think and sometimes we succeeded in that together. In my early childhood we only had 3 radio stations in the Netherlands, 1 large bakelite switch with only 3 positions.
What a liberation the Transistor radio became, with all its different channels, received by yourself, if you had a bit of good antenna.
If it wasn’t interesting or fun, just find another channel, or even turn it off.
The freedom of the word is a pronounced proof of democracy and mutual understanding.
Note:
I would like to thank Bart de Jong for the guidance and support on our radio nights together, it was great fun!
Photo sticker Talk Radio: ANDRÉ HORLINGS
Luc van de Steeg / LucFineArt
Weesp-NL