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Sunday, April 11, 2010

Northern Exposure

A month after my departure from WBMW, I still have many radio geek moments. I listen a lot to NPR, which has an affiliate in the northernmost town in the United States: KBRW-AM/FM in Barrow, Alaska. If the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska on TV's critically-acclaimed Northern Exposure seemed more than a bit quirky, life on a spit of land overlooking the Arctic Ocean must be about as different as can be from eastern Connecticut. This outpost inaccessible by car from the outside world has always fascinated me. Yesterday I found the webstream for KBRW-AM 680 and was treated to a forecast of snow and a high of 5 above, but it was supposed to "warm up" to near 20 soon. The announcer was very smooth with a great voice, playing an eclectic mix of Bobby Darin, the Four Tops and Little Feat followed by an hour of Bruce Springsteen during their local segments. In this era of one town - and one radio station - often as similar as the next, life in this northern town would be amazing to see. Since I have yet to see Seattle, I don't see this trip happening soon. The next time we complain of a spring chill, think of those 4,700 residents in this town at the top of the world.

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