PART II: How Deep Is the Ocean: Larry Schnell on A Sailor’s Song FEATURED ON WRFI

WRFI’s Roger Kimmel Smith interviews author and professor ⁠⁠Larry Schnell⁠⁠ about his book ⁠⁠A Sailor's Song: Lost Love Letters of World War II⁠⁠, on a special edition of “⁠⁠Crazy Words, Crazy Tune⁠⁠.” The newly released book portrays the U.S. Coast Guard U.S.S. General A.W. Greely, the war’s most musical ship, as it transports troops to and from the war in Asia. This two-hour broadcast features Smith’s extended interview with Schnell, along with 1940s music, news clips, and other historic audio with narration.

The roles played by music and musicians during wartime is the central theme of this radio documentary, which aired August 8, 2025, in observance of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, toward the end of World War II.

⁠⁠Larry Schnell⁠⁠’s father, Arthur Schnell, was a Coast Guard Musician Third Class who described his wartime experiences in letters to his wife, Flo Schnell, a civilian musician and music teacher. Before shipping out aboard the Greely in 1945, he served at the Manhattan Beach Coast Guard Training Station in Brooklyn, New York. Arthur Schnell played trombone in the Manhattan Beach Coast Guard Band, alongside a dozen or so other musicians profiled in ⁠⁠A Sailor’s Song⁠⁠. The group made several recordings which were released at the time on V-Discs. These performances are in the public domain and, as Roger discovered while doing research for the interview, remain available today through the ⁠⁠Internet Archive⁠⁠. Author Schnell was thus able to listen for the first time to the music his father and comrades had made—and WRFI listeners will have this opportunity as well.

This audio documentary with Larry Schnell aired on August 8th 2025 from 12-2pm EST, hosted by WRFI DJ Roger Smith during his regular '⁠⁠Crazy Words, Crazy Tune⁠⁠' Friday show.

PART I: How Deep Is the Ocean: Larry Schnell on A Sailor’s Song FEATURED ON WRFI

WRFI’s Roger Kimmel Smith interviews author and professor ⁠Larry Schnell⁠ about his book ⁠A Sailor's Song: Lost Love Letters of World War II⁠, on a special edition of “⁠Crazy Words, Crazy Tune⁠.” The newly released book portrays the U.S. Coast Guard U.S.S. General A.W. Greely, the war’s most musical ship, as it transports troops to and from the war in Asia. This two-hour broadcast features Smith’s extended interview with Schnell, along with 1940s music, news clips, and other historic audio with narration.

The roles played by music and musicians during wartime is the central theme of this radio documentary, which aired August 8, 2025, in observance of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, toward the end of World War II.

⁠Larry Schnell⁠’s father, Arthur Schnell, was a Coast Guard Musician Third Class who described his wartime experiences in letters to his wife, Flo Schnell, a civilian musician and music teacher. Before shipping out aboard the Greely in 1945, he served at the Manhattan Beach Coast Guard Training Station in Brooklyn, New York. Arthur Schnell played trombone in the Manhattan Beach Coast Guard Band, alongside a dozen or so other musicians profiled in ⁠A Sailor’s Song⁠. The group made several recordings which were released at the time on V-Discs. These performances are in the public domain and, as Roger discovered while doing research for the interview, remain available today through the ⁠Internet Archive⁠. Author Schnell was thus able to listen for the first time to the music his father and comrades had made—and WRFI listeners will have this opportunity as well.

This audio documentary with Larry Schnell aired on August 8th 2025 from 12-2pm EST, hosted by WRFI DJ Roger Smith during his regular '⁠Crazy Words, Crazy Tune⁠' Friday show.

Host Michael Rhynes continues to explore the role of poetry and literature in the lives of people affected by the carceral state.

In this episode, we hear Michael's interview with Ketu Oladuwa an octogenarian poet who was wrongfully locked up for 5 years on death row in the 1960s.

This program is funded by a 2025 Humanities New York grant and by WRFI's listeners. It's produced in collaboration with Civic Ensemble, Prisoner Express, and the Cornell Prison Education Program. 

WRFI talks to author and Cornell Associate Professor of Literature, Jeremy Braddock, about the history and culture of the 60’s-70’s era (and beyond) surrealist comedy troupe Firesign Theater. Jeremy recently published the book “Firesign: The Electromagnetic History of Everything as Told on Nine Comedy Albums” (University of California Press). Jeremy discusses Firesign Theater with Peter B (of WRFI’s Burning Airlines) about the background, methods, and connections to the troupe. Topics includes their use of the audio technology of the time, responses to historical events, and long standing cultural impact. Classic albums such as Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers and I Think We Are All Bozos On This Bus are explored.

This interview with Jeremy Braddock aired on May 18th 2025, hosted by WRFI DJ Peter B..

Dusty Visions of Threading the Needle interviews Post Punk legend Chandra Oppenheim and bandmates live in studio.

Host Michael Rhynes interviews Taili Mugambee Director or the Ultimate Re-Entry Opportunity about re-entry work underway in Tompkins County.

This program originally aired on September 17, 2024 on WRFI Community Radio.

How can we ensure access to healthy, sustainable food for everyone in our community? What can we do as individuals? What changes would you like to see to government policy? How did the pandemic affect the way you eat? 

Listen back to our WRFI's September 12 food security and call-in show. Panelists, callers, and host Felix Teitelbaum explored local food security and insecurity and got to know some local farmers and organizers dedicated to mutual aid and a just food system.

Panelists on the show were:

Ana Ortiz of No Mas Lagrimas, which supports and empowers people to meet their basic needs and does food rescue and relief work.

Lorena Mendoza Lorena and her husband Carlos grow food for No Mas Lagrimas and their customers at West Haven Farm in Ithaca.

Debbie Branker-Livermore of Loving Farms, which grows chemical-free produce for people in Tompkins and Tioga Counties and provides to the Candor Food Pantry.

and Katie Hallas, of Tomkins Food Future and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County.

This program was the second in our "Food and Country" series leading up to the screening of Ruth Reichl’s documentary “Food and Country” Tuesday, September 17 at Cinemapolis. Make sure check out our exclusive interview with Ruth Reichl and get tickets for the film! The screening on Tuesday will be followed by another panel discussion and talkback with the audience. Panelists for that conversation will be Christa Nunez of Khuba International, Denise O’Leary of Cafe Dewitt, Chaw Chang of Stick and Stone Farm, Jeff Bessmer of GreenStar Coop, Kelly Sauve of the Ithaca Farmers Market, and moderated by WRFI's Felix Teitelbaum.

Support for this series comes from Tompkins County Food Policy Council, Moosewood Restaurant, GreenStar Coop, the Ithaca Farmers Market, and WRFI's members and donors. Special thank to our partners at Cinemapolis and Greenwich Entertainment.

In this edition of CREATIVES ON WRFI, a conversation between celebrated American novelist Jonathan Lethem and Jacob White, Associate Professor of Writing at Ithaca College and host of Jamaican Clash on WRFI.

Jonathan Lethem visits Ithaca this weekend as part of the fourth annual Ithaca Is Books Festival (Sept. 12-15). You can see Lethem live in conversation with Writing Professor Eleanor Henderson on Friday, Sept. 13 at Buffalo Street Books (6:00 p.m.).

Jonathan Lethem is the author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novels Motherless Brooklyn, Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, and Brooklyn Crime Novel. His newest book, The Collapsing Frontier, published this year by PM Press, collects recent works of nonfiction and fiction, some of which previously appeared in The New Yorker Magazine.

Mildred Alvarado, María José Oviedo y Tim W. Shenk del equipo de Futuro en Ag del Cornell Small Farms Program vuelven al programa Alcance Latino con Carlos Gutiérrez. Comparten aprendizajes sobre las finanzas personales y empresariales, claves para desarrollar un negocio agrícola exitoso.

Mildred Alvarado, María José Oviedo and Tim W. Shenk of Cornell Small Farms Program's Futuro en Ag team return to the Alcance Latino radio show with Carlos Gutiérrez. They share information about personal and business finances, key to developing a successful farm business.

Photo: Jared Davis