Jim Bartlett’s Blog

On a Friday morning not long ago I was filling in for Pat, and I asked the following question on the air: What’s the first big historical event you can remember while it was happening? For the next two hours, I played back phone calls and read Facebook posts and

Forty years ago this weekend, July 4, 1976, was the celebration of the American Bicentennial. The national blowout for America’s 200th birthday had been brewing for a couple of years. A government commission began planning for it in 1973. The U.S. Mint issued commemorative quarters, half-dollars, and dollar coins starting in

In 1980, I spent the summer as a nighttime rock ‘n’ roll DJ in Freeport, Illinois. It was a pretty sweet gig for a 20-year-old college kid. I was on the air Sunday through Friday nights from six to midnight, so I had Saturday nights to party with my friends at home. I

This is Maizie. If she looks a little upset, it’s because this photo was taken at the vet a couple of weeks ago, as she hunkered down and tried to make herself invisible before the vet came in to see us. I know her well enough to recognize that she’s

In my last blog post, I mentioned the phenomenon of shy people who go into radio anyway. It happens more often than you think. (There’s a difference between shyness and being afraid to go on the air. None of us is especially nervous about the latter, at least not after

Forty years ago this month, I came close to achieving a real-life radio job. It started when a group at my high school had a fund-raising auction. One of the items up for bid was a 15-minute show on WEKZ in Monroe. I paid $6.25 for it, and within a

The rhythm of our days is defined more by television than we realize, I think. For many Midwesterners, the 10:00 local news marks the end of the evening and time to go to bed, so you get in your eight hours before rising at 6 for another day. Do East

(Pictured: Aretha Franklin onstage; credit: Joseph Sohm, Shutterstock.com) My wife and I have no children and few expensive vices, and we don’t live extravagantly. Nevertheless, we try to keep the fun budget in balance. We don’t go to every concert or every show we’d like to attend, because tickets cost

(Pictured: musician Keith Emerson was a wizard of the analog synthesizer, which required a player not only to work the keys but to plug and unplug cords and twist knobs.) You may have heard that Keith Emerson, keyboard player in 70s rock band Emerson Lake and Palmer, died earlier this

Earlier this week, our two cats were acting strangely, fascinated with spots in the kitchen and dining room that don’t usually fascinate them, even during those times of the day and night when they’re usually asleep. After 24 hours of this, I finally saw the reason why, when a mouse