Since 1976 the strongest advocates for WBHM have been our members. We are delighted to share stories from our members and why they choose to listen and support their NPR station. Want to tell your story? Email membership@wbhm.org and tell us about your love for WBHM!
Why I Support WBHM: Christina Ochsenbauer
Dr. Christina Ochsenbauer says, “I’m originally from Germany and now I live in Homewood, for the past 20 years. I discovered WBHM when I came here from Europe, and I like to listen to it because it provides the in-depth coverage of national and world news that I was used to from home. I couldn’t find any other station that provided that. And it’s also commercial free, which is something that I appreciated. And over the years it has really just become my main source of information for me because I don’t have time to read a daily newspaper, and WBHM gives me all the information I need, and then I can go and follow up on it if I want to learn more. I really do appreciate the coverage that they provide because the people that report from Western Europe, they really know what they’re talking about, and they understand the cultural context. And I think it’s very important to have this perspective. It’s very, very thoughtful.”
“Our son who is now seven listens, and he likes to listen, and he will also comment on what he hears on the radio. And I think that’s really important because it gives children like him that are exposed to WBHM the opportunity to learn about the world, that there are other perspectives out there. And if you raise them that way, hopefully they will become thoughtful adults that will make thoughtful choices.”
To join Christina in supporting WBHM, public radio for the heart of Alabama and beyond, click here. To check out her husband John’s testimonial, click here.
Why I Support WBHM: John Kappes
Dr. John Kappes says, “I’m originally from the Cincinnati, Ohio area and I’ve been in Birmingham for 30 years. I used to drive down 280, and there were a lot of choices up and down the radio. And it just came to be that I listened to a radio station, WBHM, supported and based here at UAB, that provided insightful information that I thought was important for conducting my life from day to day and having a good knowledge-based view of my surroundings, my community, my country, and the world.”
“When I came here [to the WBHM studio] today … this is a very ‘unassuming’ environment. Obviously you guys aren’t squandering the pennies of your donors. But you walk through the hallways and you see the lives of people that this effort touches, you see the awards and the plaques and the honors. It’s the team of people. It’s the intellect. It’s the love of what you’re doing. It’s the knowledge which stems from that environment. It’s the team.”
“When the batteries burn out on the little radio in the bathroom and we don’t have news, there’s a gap. And we realize that. We feel it. We sense it. I always take the batteries out to recharge them because it’s important for us. It’s a little thing but it helps highlight the value of it once that’s missing.”
To join John in supporting WBHM, public radio for the heart of Alabama and beyond, click here. To check out his wife Christina’s testimonial, click here.
Why I Support WBHM: Ryan Jones
Ryan Jones grew up in Hoover but he travels the world regularly, and he says, “I work a lot outside of Alabama … I’ve had to go to different places throughout the South and across the country, and really around the world. And one of the things that WBHM gives me is it gives me a sense of place. I’m never far from home. It’s always right there, whether it’s in my pocket, online, wherever I have to go, I can find out what’s going on in Alabama at the drop of a hat. So it really comes in handy to feel like home is right there with me.”
“I love Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. I really enjoy Radiolab. I love the Marketplace Morning Report, and On The Media … Just about every single show that you have, I find time to listen to. WBHM gives you an insight not just into your today, but also into the future of Alabama and the future of Birmingham. And no one else does that on a regular basis. So I really value that insight, that understanding of not just where we are, but where we’re going.”
“I got tired of the regular top 40 stations, hearing the same song over and over again. No offense to Britney Spears or Katy Perry, but after a little while you just get tired of it. You know that things are going on in the world … and WBHM really is the only place that not just plugged you into what’s going on in the world, but gives you an unbiased view. It gives you multiple viewpoints to learn and gather and make decisions for yourself, as opposed to being yelled at like on so much other talk radio, hearing people’s biases. You actually get to hear from a multitude of sources and you make your own decisions and you become more informed. And that’s what I love about WBHM. I’m never left in the breach. I’m never left feeling as though there’s a side that I didn’t hear.”
“I really think people should understand that when they give to WBHM, it is worth every single cent. You won’t find a better quality of programming on the radio today. You spend so much money on so many other things that you don’t need. You pay for your Spotify, you pay for Apple Music, you pay for your coffee. You pay for so many things, and this radio station has endured for so long and given you so much, all you have to do is take a little time, give a little money, and make the station that much better.”
To join Ryan in supporting WBHM, public radio for the heart of Alabama and beyond, click here.
Why I Support WBHM: Catherine Mayo
Catherine Mayo of Birmingham says, “I have three children, six, eight, and nine. I turn WBHM on around seven o’clock in the morning and it’s usually still playing until seven at night. Because WBHM is playing throughout our house all day, a lot of conversations are sparked that we normally would not have. And it is so important to my husband and me that our kids know that we live in a big world outside of our bubble of Birmingham, Alabama, and that there are a lot of different people in it. And WBHM and NPR bring those people into my house. I feel like it brings the outside world into my home.”
“I love Morning Edition, This American Life, Here and Now … Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me is hilarious.”
“You know it took a while for me to become a member. The the Fund Drive would come on and I would change the channel. I finally became a sustaining member about five years ago. And now, it’s frustrating that other people don’t do the same, because it’s such a small amount! I mean it’s not like you have to give tons of money … if everybody who listened gave just a little bit, it would be enough so that we didn’t have to have the Fund Drives.”
To join Catherine in supporting WBHM, public radio for the heart of Alabama and beyond, click here.
Why I Support WBHM: “I Don’t Have to Think About the Oxford Comma!”
Nick Patterson is the editor of the weekly newspaper WELD, and joins WBHM each Thursday during All Things Considered to discuss the week’s news. He’s not just one of the voices you hear on WBHM. He’s also a member and a fan.
“I love the education stories and the in depth news stories,” says Patterson. “I love the fact that WBHM, as an NPR affiliate, really connects you to some of the best journalism you’re going to hear in any broadcast medium.”
When he’s not writing for and reading WELD, he’s listening to the radio.
“I listen to WBHM in my car, sometimes at home, because, really, when you need the news right now, this is the place to get it,” Patterson says.
But there’s also one other reason this print journalist likes WBHM. He doesn’t have to worry about punctuation. Especially the Oxford comma.
“That always comes up as an issue I have to deal with,” says Patterson of the tricky comma.
For the uninitiated, Patterson explains: “The Oxford comma is the comma that you put before the ‘and’ in a series in a sentence. Sometimes you have three things that you mention. At the one just before the ‘and’ you have to make a decision. Do you put a comma before it…or not?”
“When I worked at the Birmingham Post-Herald, we used the Oxford comma quite frequently. Now that I’m working at WELD, we basically decided we wouldn’t,” says Patterson. “It feels weird because I have to take the Oxford comma out, not only of my own writing, but of other peoples’ writing as well. It feels sort of like I’m betraying the Oxford comma.”
One thing he says he’d never betray? The public radio station he loves.
“WBHM: Whether you like the Oxford comma or not, it’s great public radio in Birmingham,” Patterson says.
Why I Support WBHM: John Mitchell
When John Mitchell had to swap cars with his daughter, he made an unexpected discovery.
“She had [the radio] on WBHM,” says Mitchell.
“The first thing I heard was Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me and I’ve been hooked on it ever since.”
Mitchell doesn’t just listen and support the station, he volunteered to answer phones this spring fund drive. If you call, he might just take your pledge.
“When you see what it takes to produce something like this, it’s such a small amount of money to donate to keep this going,” says Mitchell.
Join him and thousand of other listeners across Alabama by making a gift to WBHM. Pledge now.
Why I Support WBHM and the SED: Paul Blutter
Paul Blutter is a civic-minded businessman and father of two who appreciates stories from the Southern Education Desk at WBHM. He’s originally from New York and now lives in Homewood.
“We love living here,” says Blutter. “It’s a great place to raise kids. And I think as parents, we all have to make important decisions about our children’s education. There are excellent public school systems here in the Birmingham Metro area, excellent private schools, and in order to make those decisions properly, we need to have all the information.”
That’s where the Southern Education Desk comes in, he says.
“It has objective reporting. I think they put the stories in their proper context, and how they affect other aspects of our lives …. It doesn’t report in a vacuum, and it doesn’t report necessarily positive or negative stories. It reports the stories.”
Click here to make your pledge now to support WBHM, the SED, and all the local, regional, and national programming you value on north-central Alabama’s public radio station. Click the player above to hear Paul Blutter himself explain why he contributes.
Why I Support WBHM and the SED: Linda Stephan
Linda Stephan is a local artist and art historian who values reporting from the Southern Education Desk at WBHM. She’s lived in the Birmingham area most of her life and has taught at several area universities.
“I’m very, very interested in education and learning,” says Stephan. “That’s why I’m so supportive of the Southern Education Desk. I think it’s so important, especially in our state, which is one of the poorest in the country. We have such a challenge facing us with education.”
And she sees how education and reporting together can affect the individual and the collective.
“One of the core principals of my being is that people need to be informed. I think if we’re better informed we make better choices, we have a better government, we have brighter people, and just a better all around community.”
She says WBHM and the Southern Education Desk work toward those goals every day.
Make your pledge now to support WBHM, the SED, and all the local, regional, and national programming you value on north-central Alabama’s public radio station. Click the player above to hear Linda herself on why she contributes.
