Black History Month Programming
With Good Reason has specials available for Black History Month 2026.
Let us know if you have any questions or would like to receive download information.
Also, check out all of the specials (past and present) available on PRX: https://exchange.prx.org/series/34152-black-history-month-specials
A Miserable Revenge
George Newman, born to free Black parents in 1855, was only 21 or 22 when he wrote the novel, A Miserable Revenge: A Story of Life in Virginia. 150 years later his 94-year-old granddaughter has just published all 480 hand-written pages.
Plus: The author of Becoming Belle da Costa-Greene, recounts the accomplishments of the first Director of the fabulous Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, who spent her life passing as white although she was the daughter of a prominent African American family.
Available Feb 14 on PRX, Download
New Brownies
In the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, W.E.B. DuBois wanted black children to have something to read that was uplighting for them. So, he started The Brownies’ Book, a monthly periodical for “children of the sun.” One hundred years later, husband and wife Karida Brown and Charly Palmer bring us The New Brownies.
And: Historian Brenton Boyd explains why he believes Black Americans and Carribeans have already coped with the rapture. Plus: What the early 20th century compositions of black composers William Grant Still and Undine Smith Moore can teach us about then and now.
PRX: Hour, Half AudioPort: Hour Download: Request
32 Blocks of Music
A slew of great and internationally recognized musicians–like Lonnie Liston Smith and Wah Wah Watson–grew up together in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond VA during the civil rights era. The neighborhood’s 32 blocks are the center of Alicia Aroche’s upcoming documentary 32 Blocks.
And: CJ Colston is a young black evangelical preacher and singer who performs in white and black churches across Appalachia. Also: Alternative Hip Hop artist geonova recounts the struggles and triumphs of being an LGBT artist in rural Big Stone Gap. Plus: Jazz Trumpeter John D’earth tells stories of his collaborations with some of the greatest jazz musicians.
PRX: Hour, Half AudioPort: Hour Download: Request
When Sunday Comes
Much has been said about the golden age of gospel music in the 1940s and 50s. But what about the gospel music that came later when hip-hop and soul were dominant? Claudrene arold’s book, When Sunday Comes, takes us to the Black record shops, churches, and businesses that transformed gospel after the Civil Rights era and nurtured the music that was an essential cultural and political expression for African Americans. Plus: Historian Lauranett Lee shares the history of the Juneteenth holiday.
And: Author Wilma Jones writes that her historically Black community of Halls Hill just outside of DC is rapidly gentrifying. She says it’s too late to save her grandma’s house but not too late to save her history.
PRX: Hour, Half AudioPort: Hour Download: Request
Cozy up to the History of Recorded Sound
Each daily 90-second Sound Beat episode focuses on one particular recording from the Archive, and provides an entertaining back story detailing its place in recording history.
The stories feature recordings from popular and classical music performances, distinctly American musical forms like jazz, bebop, country, and bluegrass, and film scores. Old favorites, rare gems, and some never heard before… from Cab Calloway to the castrated stars of Italian opera, you’ll hear it all on the Sound Beat!
And it’s not just music. Sound Beat episodes also feature speeches and spoken word performances from some of the great thinkers, political figures and luminaries from the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries. People like Thomas Edison, George Bernard Shaw, Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Tech Titans or Tyrants: Should the U.S. Government Break Up Big Tech?
Has Big Tech become too powerful? From social media platforms and e-commerce giants to cloud computing and AI, tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft wield unprecedented influence over our economy, democracy, and daily lives. The government is taking notice, with the Department of Justice and FTC pursuing landmark antitrust actions and bipartisan support building for breaking up tech giants. Advocates argue these firms are monopolies that stifle competition and innovation, harm consumers through data exploitation, abuse their market dominance, and wield outsized influence over public discourse. Structural separation, such as forcing Google to divest YouTube or Amazon to spin off AWS, would restore fairness. Others argue that breaking them up would undermine innovation and downgrade the user experience, which benefits from integrated ecosystems. It would serve as a blunt instrument when smarter regulation or self-governance could suffice. These measures could lead to unintended consequences for national security, critical infrastructure, and the broader economy.
As these tech companies grow their influence while under public scrutiny, we debate the question: Should the U.S. Government Break Up Big Tech?
Arguing Yes: Bharat Ramamurti, Founder of The Bully Pulpit; Former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project
Arguing No: Geoffrey A. Manne, President and Founder of the International Center for Law & Economics and Jennifer Huddleston, Senior Fellow in Technology Policy at the Cato Institute
Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
A Family Event for your listeners – Otherworld Media Productions presents “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” a four-part audio dramatization of L. Frank Baum’s timeless tale with an all-star cast
AVAILABLE on PRX
It’s been over the rainbow for 25 years, but the star-studded Centennial Audio Production in 2000 of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ is reissued for limited-time release. Available to air until June 1, 2026.
The only complete audio dramatization of of Dorothy’s whirlwind voyage to the land of OZ comes alive with an irreplaceable cast.
- HARRY ANDERSON as The Wizard
- ANNETTE BENING as Glinda the Good
- PHYLLIS DILLER as The Wicked Witch
- JOHN GOODMAN as Guardian of the Gate
- MARK HAMILL as Munch the Munchkin
- RENE AUBERJONOIS as The Scarecrow
- ROBERT GUILLAUME as The Cowardly Lion
- NESTOR SERRANO as The Tin Woodman
- MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG as Dorothy Gale
Adapted by David Ossman, this award-winning production has joyfully sought to create a movie-for-your-mind, wherein Baum’s tale of a strong-willed young girl, a new-made scarecrow, a lonely Tin Man and an un-crowned Lion can live anew.
Most people know the story through the classic motion picture with Judy Garland, released in 1938, fewer have actually read the book the film is based on. Realizing this, Ossman made sure that the songs in this audio production will remind listeners of the movie, while staying true to the turn-of-the-century original.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was produced in cooperation with the Children’s Museum of Los Angeles in 2000 for the Centennial Celebration of the book.Judith Walcutt produced and directed. David Ossman, wrote this chapter-by-chapter telling, brilliantly produced by Warren Dewey, with a score supervised by Scott Nagatani that includes tunes by Baum himself and music from the original stage production of the Wizard of Oz in 1902.
Searching for the First Rock and Roll Song
Is your station searching for a new, free, weekly music program? End your search with “Searching for The First Rock and Roll Song”
PERFECT FOR WEEKENDS OR OVERNIGHT!
From WWOZ in New Orleans comes a truly unique music show featuring great early rock music rarely, if ever, heard on other music programs. A two-decade long staple on WWOZ, uber-knowledgeable Host Jaime Dell’Apa spins records coveted by collectors from the era when rock and roll was emerging but hadn’t yet settled on a definition of itself.
On Searching For The First Rock and Roll Song, listeners will hear music:
- from before rock and roll was domesticated into a commercial music industry.
- when country and western sounded like swing,
- when pop music sounded like rockabilly,
- when rockabilly sounded like rhythm and blues,
- when doo wop sounded like girl groups,
and all those musics sounded an awful lot like what we now call “rock and roll.”
Available: PRX (Auto Download), PRX (Manual Download), AudioPort (1 hr Version), AudioPort (2 hr Version), AudioPort (3 hr Version), & Download
Length: One hour to Three Hours weekly
Cost: FREE