Join an in-person workshop on FM transmission as a model of collective sense-making, navigation, and relational learning.
FM transmissions ride on slower and lower wavelengths than digital communications like WiFi, Bluetooth, and fiberoptic systems, potentially offering relief from the ambient speed, charge, and overwhelm of targeted, extractive, surveillant digital technologies. FM broadcasting also keeps running when more fragile, complex systems like the internet fail. Participants will walk away with reflections on slow, relational communication and knowledge-building systems, and an experience of adjusting our digital expectations and habits to restore the mystery and quality of human connectedness.
Participants will gain:
- An understanding of the process of setting up an antenna and radio transmitter: identifying a suitable location, setting up and testing equipment
- Experience launching and producing broadcast in an outdoor setting
- A deeper understanding of how we might use FM and other low frequencies as an alternative to digital platforms, networks, and devices that capture our attention while measuring, controlling, and optimizing humans and our relationships – and as an emergency preparedness fallback communications option.
About the presenter
Greta Byrum leads Present Moment, an enterprise that works with people, organizations, and local groups to create meaningful pathways toward technological wellbeing and imagination. She has been creating low-power FM broadcast experiences since 2002, including with free103.9, the August Sound Coalition, The Lobby NYC, and Mary Ellen Carroll at the Watermill Center. She currently serves on NYC’s Internet Advisory Board, the NY State Regents’ Advisory Council on Libraries, and the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation’s board. She is a Hudson Valley mom and an avid hiker. Greta’s work focuses on building collective action towards technological self-determination, health, joy, and wellbeing.