Lise's Lens: October 16, 2025

As evidenced by my note above, I have ALWAYS been a fan of public radio. Growing up in Haiti, one would never leave the house without first listening to the radio. Above all else, radio was the source of immediate information and helped us make sense of what the day was supposed to be like — politically, culturally — you name it!  Even our national exams were announced on the public radio (yes, you found out, along with the entire nation, whether you passed the exam that allowed you to proceed to secondary school and also the Baccalaureat ). It was also where we got our music, whether it was Haitian bands like les Shleu-Shleu or Les Difficiles de Petion-Ville, or The French Radio Hour, with classics from Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour. Later, when I was in college in the USA, I lived with a family who had recently retired from a lifetime career in the State Department and who listened every morning to NPR. We religiously listened to Morning, Evening, and Weekend Editions. The voices of the hosts and main commentators became quite familiar to me and I certainly respected what they had to say and what they reported.

Today, we sadly find ourselves in a situation where the fate of Public Radio is in serious jeopardy. This is deeply disturbing and disappointing to me, as there are so many communities across the USA, large and small, that rely on radio. Defunding it, I believe, will have lasting negative impacts for years to come. It pains me to think of the programs that could disappear, like Our Living Lands, a five-minute, weekly radio segment that explores the impact of climate change on Indigenous communities’ health, culture, and environment. 

I hope we can keep fighting to save these important programs and mitigate the impacts of harmful budget cuts.