Starting July 5, Jean Feraca will begin a new
venture on Wisconsin Public Radio: a humanities-based, global, cultural
affairs call-in program.
Jean has been on sabbatical
for nearly a year. She wanted some time off from her weekday morning
call-in to write a book about her experiences as a radio host.
But while she was away, she also had time to develop an outline
for a new program with an international focus. During many meetings
with Wisconsin Public Radio’s senior management team, her new
call-in program was crafted and approved.
Jean Feraca’s Here On Earth will be
broadcast on the Ideas Network stations from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays.
“I want to explore what
it means to be a world citizen. The new program is based on the
concepts producer Carmen Jackson and I have been working on for
years…humanities, literature, world citizenship, human
interest,”
said Jean. “No matter where you are,
you’re
here on Earth. I hope Here On Earth will do what
talk-radio has always done best, which is to be intimate, to be
engaging, and to bring people together across national, racial, and
cultural boundaries.”
Ideas Network director Joy
Cardin said Here On Earth will add four hours of Wisconsin-produced programs to
the weekend schedule. “Our listeners tell us they prefer
locally produced, locally hosted programs. So the change should
please our current listeners and members. Wisconsin Public Radio has
been a pioneer in developing and broadcasting strong locally produced
(as opposed to nationally produced) call-in programming,” said
Joy. “Our strategic direction is to strengthen audience
service through state-produced talk programming while continuing to
supply programs to national audiences. We are delighted that Jean
has created this concept and is fully committed to our
listeners.”
