The City of Boulder recognizes KGNU Radio Week. Here’s what we have in store

For the first time in station history, KGNU will be hosting a Radio Week from May 19th to the 25th. Kenneth Flowe is our Underwriting Account Manager here at KGNU, and he came up with the idea for Radio Week. KGNU’s Jackie Sedley sat down with him to talk about what’s in store.

Transcript:

Jackie Sedley: Okay, so, Kenneth, just to start off. Tell me about this idea that you envisioned that’s coming to life now.

Kenneth Flowe: Sure. So I had this idea for an event called Radio Week, and I first heard the concept when I lived in the Washington, D. C. market, where it was an all-city, all-radio station, all-media event. But I thought that in order to distinguish KGNU from our competitors in the market, that we should do Radio Week and keep it exclusively to KGNU.

Sedley: And so what does Radio Week mean to you outside of just establishing it as this week to celebrate the station? We could do that all year-round. What’s different?

Flowe: Sure. So Radio Week is a concentrated week where we do a citywide, week long series of events that demonstrate to the community. KGNU’s relevance and the fact that we’ve been broadcasting for close to 40 years consistently, you know, it’s funny because I was looking at a schematic drawing of a car the other day for 2026 and there’s no AM or FM dial in there. So a lot of times people think that means KGNU is going away, but we broadcast worldwide on the internet.

And, you know, if there’s a fire in Boulder or an emergency, people turn to KGNU. You can’t go to Sirius Satellite or XM Radio for something like that. If something’s going on on the diagonal, it’s going to be KGNU that’s going to keep the community-informed. So, I just wanted to demonstrate to the community our relevance and our impact on the local culture. You know, as a Community radio station, 80 percent of our content is created by people who live right here in the community. So, we’re excited about that and we want to celebrate it.

Sedley: What makes it different from one of our fund drives?

Flowe: We’re using multiple venues and we’re using multiple partners to show the city that we enjoy broadcasting from here and give them a couple of opportunities to enjoy some of the many fantastic venues we have in Boulder.

Sedley: And the city has, has recognized this week, right? Tell me about that a little bit.

Flowe: Yeah. So that’s very exciting. The city of Boulder recognized May 19th to May 25th as Radio Week is, and you know, that’s a KGNU initiative. It’s unique to KGNU, the first time that we’ve had a Radio Week and the city has bought in completely. I mean, they, they recognize that when it comes to articulating public policy, KGNU is a partner with them.

Sedley: And you said May 19th to May 25th.

Flowe: Correct. So it’s going to go from Sunday to Saturday. And we have a great series of events coming on. So we have indigenous recordings that will take place at, uh, our new building downtown. And then we have a live concert at Roots Music Project here in Boulder, which is an awesome venue that I think it’s overlooked a lot. So hopefully we can bring some attention to them and they can bring some attention to us.

And then on Wednesday, we’re going to have a birthday party for *dun dun dun dun!* KGNU Radio! And we’re going to have that here at our home studios. So that’s open to the public and we’re very excited about it. Then on Thursday, we’re going to have old time radio, uh, called Destination Freedom. And it’s a radio play that we’re going to broadcast live from the downtown public library. We’re going to have a reception beforehand so folks can come and get something to eat before they enjoy the program. And then on Friday, we’re going to have a really nice art exhibit here at our Walnut Street location. We’re partnering with open studios and there’s going to be a battery of artists. I don’t know if artists congregate in batteries, but that’s the only way I know how to pronounce it. So we’re going to have a battery of artists here at, uh, KGNU’s studio, and they’re going to turn our studios into an art gallery. So we’re really excited about that. And then on Saturday, we’re going to broadcast live from the Boulder Creek Festival. So it’s going to be multi-venues, week long excitement, more excitement on top of more excitement. And, you know, just as the Olympics comes to a town and makes things better, Radio Week is going to do the same thing. So we’re actually transforming the radio, the radio station into a gallery, but it’s also a chance for us to really get rid of some things that we’ve been meaning to get rid of to add some things we’ve been meaning to add so that we can make our studios spick and span.

Sedley: All right, Kenneth, anything else that you want to add?

Flowe: No, and I apologize for that really long answer to your question.

Sedley: No, don’t at all. You with the memory. It’s impressive. You have, for the record, Kenneth has nothing in front of him to dictate that schedule. It’s all up there in the brain.

Flowe: Hahaha! Well, you know, it’s funny because what basically what I did was I was sitting on my lawn chair – *phone rings* –  That’s Hollywood, baby! *turns off ringer*

But, basically, I was sitting on my lawn chair and I thought to myself, “What could KGNU do that no other radio station could do? Radio Week!” Absolutely. I mean, that’s pretty much how it came to me because no other radio station is capable of putting together a week-long, multi-venue event in the city of Boulder. No one else could do this except for KGNU. We are uniquely qualified to create Radio Week.

Sedley: Alright, Kenneth Flowe, thank you so much for chatting with me this morning.

Flowe: Thank you for having me.