Ongoing Productions

Fresh Air host Terry Gross.
	Watch highlights from Fresh Air.

When WHYY first signed on the air in December 1954, the arts and culture experience on FM and TV was paramount. Today, that experience is still an important keystone to those who watch and listen to WHYY.

This past year, arts and culture were critical to our audiences' expectations for WHYY's locally produced programs and top-notch national offerings. For example, WHYY-FM's award-winning arts reporter, Joel Rose, expanded the imagination and kept listeners informed and educated on topics ranging from an experimental opera to a performance based on classical mythology. Many of those same reports were broadcast nationwide on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

WHYY-FM's Sunday Showcase -- heard on 91FM with its interviews archived on whyy.org -- completed its third year as the only regular broadcast outlet of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The regional program also broadened its base, featuring Curtis Institute of Music concerts, artists from Astral Artistic Services, The Philadelphia Singers, Piffaro and Tempesta di Mare. In a new off-air experience that will serve as a model for similar upcoming events, WHYY hosted a personal conversation with maestro Christoph Eschenbach for broadcast on WHYY's digital channel and whyy.org.

On a daily basis, Radio Times host Marty Moss-Coane -- now seen weekly on WHYY-TV, heard on whyy.org and accessed ON DEMAND -- zeroed in on newsworthy cultural topics as did Marty Goldensohn on FM's nationally-distributed Been There/Done That.

91FM arts and culture reporter Joel Rose.

Movie critic Patrick Stoner, host of Quick Pics and Flicks which are seen on more than 100 public television stations, continued his reports about the silver screen and interviews with its stars. WHYY's weekly FM series -- You Bet Your Garden with Mike McGrath and A Chef’s Table with Jim Coleman -- informed listeners here and across the country about organic gardening and interesting information about food and lifestyle.

When it comes to interviewing skills, Terry Gross has no equal. She's been shedding light on contemporary arts and culture on Fresh Air for the past 25 years. Today, Fresh Air, produced by WHYY, is the most listened to cultural program on public radio. It is broadcast nationally on 445 radio stations and is heard by more than 4 million people daily. In September 2004, the stakes are raised even higher, when Terry Gross' first book, All I Did Was Ask, is published.

WHYY's weekly FM arts calendar, produced each Friday and Saturday, is one of the best places to learn about what is going on in the region. Plus, there is an expanded version on whyy.org.

There is no argument: Arts and culture are a critical piece of the WHYY experience.