Tracing Neighborhoods in the Sky: Pirate Radio in Brooklyn

Sun, Mar 9 2025
12:30 am – 1:00 am
Central Library

Night in the Library

Room: Languages & Literature, 1st Floor

Every night across Crown Heights, East Flatbush and Canarsie, almost two dozen illicit, culture-bearing radio signals beam into West Indian neighborhoods, the latest wave of a half century of homegrown pirate radio stations. David Goren explores the sonics and history of this transgressive medium from the teenage electronic pranksters of the 1970s to the Dancehall, Konpa and Soca DJs today.

David Goren is a radio documentary maker and audio archivist based in Brooklyn. After several years researching and recording local pirate radio activity, David created “New York City’s Pirates of the Air” for the BBC World Service, "Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD” for KCRW’s Lost Notes podcast, and the Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map. The Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map project is a partner of the Radio Preservation Task Force at the Library of Congress.

David Goren
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238 Get Directions
Add to My Calendar 03/09/2025 12:30 am 03/09/2025 01:00 am America/New_York Tracing Neighborhoods in the Sky: Pirate Radio in Brooklyn <p><em>Room: Languages &amp; Literature, 1st Floor</em></p><p><span>Every night&nbsp;across Crown Heights, East Flatbush and Canarsie, almost two dozen&nbsp;illicit, culture-bearing radio signals beam into West Indian neighborhoods, the latest wave of a half century of homegrown pirate radio stations. David Goren explores the sonics and history of this transgressive medium from the teenage electronic pranksters of the 1970s to the Dancehall, Konpa and Soca DJs today.</span></p><p><strong>David Goren</strong> is a radio documentary maker and audio archivist based in Brooklyn. After several years researching and recording local pirate radio activity, David created “New York City’s Pirates of the Air” for the BBC World Service, "Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD” for KCRW’s Lost Notes podcast, and the Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map. The Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map project is a partner of the Radio Preservation Task Force at the Library of Congress.</p> Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library MM/DD/YYYY 60