I Can’t Live Without My Radio
Appealing to eclectic music lovers everywhere, WCNI thrives even in the era of Big Streaming.
Navigating the studio home of WCNI, Connecticut College’s independent, ad-free, free-form radio station, can be challenging for those with a touch of claustrophobia. Most walls are covered, floor to ceiling, with shelves of CDs and vinyl. Eagle eyes might even spot the occasional tape or 8-track, still holding on years after their format essentially went the way of the dodo. On the walls without music, posters, stickers and old concert announcements hint at eras past and the station’s rich history.
Make it through WCNI’s labyrinthian hallway and things open up to the station’s beating heart, its broadcast booth. There, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, it broadcasts an impressively wide array of music to Camels—and the Camel-curious—everywhere. If one stops by, they might well catch John Tyler, the station’s community general manager, commanding the airwaves with his Friday morning world music show, aptly titled John E’s World. Tuning the dial to 90.9 every other Saturday after 9 p.m. will gain you access to Joey Royale’s Crypt of Cool, a show he bills as “weird music for weird people.” And on Mondays, anchoring the 3-6 afternoon slot, Student General Manager Riley Madden ’26 will greet you with an “eclectic mix of rock, folk and Americana.”
Madden works the board with an assuredness one would not expect from someone who’s only been doing this for just over a year. She makes sure her listeners know exactly who they’re hearing before moving easily from the likes of Talk to Me by Bruce Springsteen—The Boss is a staple of every broadcast—to All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints by Paul Simon. At times, she builds thematic suites within her three hours; at others, she lets a sort of controlled anarchy guide her selections. In addition to the music, she peppers her on-air time with trivia and song analysis.
“I start off every show with the same song, Pirate Radio, a rocker from the lesser-known folk rock musician John Hiatt. His song, a tribute to the old tradition of pirate radio blasted haphazardly over the airwaves, playing the unconventional, innovative songs commercial radio wouldn’t play, is also the name of my show,” Madden explains.
“The Pirate Radio name is a tribute to what WCNI is all about—ordinary people volunteering their time to play their favorite music for their community, no matter what genre, no matter how commercial or how obscure.”