WVIK Debuting These Interesting Times Podcast
WVIK, Quad Cities NPR and the Midwest Writing Center have teamed up to produce a new podcast that examines the tumultuous time that was 2020. These Interesting Times, named after the MWC collection published in 2021, features 47 local writers reading pieces based on their experiences weathering the global pandemic. The podcast will be featured on the QuadCities.com podcast hub, and other forums.
“2020 was a disaster…” reads the back cover of These Interesting Times. “In these moving and eloquent essays and poems, stories and artwork writers and artists of the Quad Cities report on the disasters of 2020. With humor, precision, and ruthless clarity, the artists in this collection present a stunning mosaic of the ruptures, beauties, gifts, and costs of this utterly unprecedented year. Each piece is a glimpse into what was happening inside our personal pockets of isolation and virtual realities.”
Jared Johnson
“WVIK is committed to elevating the voices of Quad Citizens and These Interesting Times is evidence of this commitment. I think listeners will enjoy these essays and stories and might even find commonalities between the experiences of these talented writers and their own lived experience,” says WVIK Station Manager, Jared Johnson.
Ryan Collins, Executive Director of Midwest Writing Center states, “While the year this anthology time capsules has passed, many of the issues that made it so challenging continue to be front and center in many of our lives. We are thrilled to partner with WVIK on this project to showcase so many voices from our community and their stories of perseverance—many of them publishing their writing for the first time—and to see those stories have a life beyond the page.”
These Interesting Times, funded by the Illinois State Library, will launch on May 25th with the release of an introduction and the first 3 episodes. Remaining episodes will be released 1 per weekday through June 30th on the WVIK app or wherever you listen to podcasts. In These Interesting Times will also be released on the APRIS system at a later date.
The Midwest Writing Center is the only literary arts nonprofit organization in the Quad Cities. MWC assists writers of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels to develop their craft, find audiences, and establish a writing community where they can learn and grow in a supportive environment. Through public readings, workshops, critique groups, contests, publications, and partnerships with other organizations, the Center enriches the community with its emphasis on creativity, education, and self-expression through writing. Visit our website to learn more about how you can write more light into your life: www.mwcqc.org.
WVIK broadcasts at 90.3 FM in the Q-C, 95.9 in Dubuque and a separate HD2 frequency at 105.7 FM.
WVIK, Quad Cities NPR, provides news and classical music 24-hours-a-day to the Quad Cities and surrounding community in northwestern Illinois and northeastern Iowa. Our primary signal is broadcast at 90.3 FM in the Quad Cities area and at 95.9 FM in Dubuque, Iowa. WVIK’s HD2 signal is available to all those with an HD Radio and also at 105.7 FM in the Quad Cities. All of WVIK’s broadcast offerings and more are available online and on demand at WVIK.org, on the WVIK app, and by accessing WVIK on Alexa empowered devices. WVIK also operates the Augustana Public Radio Information Service (APRIS), a service that reads local newspapers over a special radio signal and online. WVIK is a public service of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.
