KOPN Community Radio

Collection Summary

The KOPN Community Radio collection includes over 1,200 audio recordings, providing insight into local radio programming and practices in mid-Missouri from the 1970s through the 1990s. The station is noteworthy for the inclusivity of its programming, which features representations of a wide array of intersecting racial, class, and gender identities, and a diverse assortment of styles, attitudes, and musical genres. KOPN’s long tradition of feminist broadcasting is represented by series produced by the Women’s Health Collective and Crystal Set Feminists, such as Women’s Weekend and The Feminist News. Other programs, such as Consciousness Across the Void and Echoes: Folklore & Folklife in Missouri, exemplify the 1970s freeform radio movement, as do the many live in-studio musical improvisations included in the collection. Another highlight of the collection is Film Comment. More than your typical film review series, Film Comment episodes include information on local screenings, discussions of film history and theory, and analyses of the artistry and representational politics of films past and present.

Broadcasts in the KOPN Community Radio collection cover national politics through a local lens, addressing topics such as the Equal Rights Amendment and Watergate hearings while also providing a snapshot of Columbia and mid-Missouri music and culture of the era. The record remains incomplete, as many tape reels have been lost over the decades, but what has been preserved provides a unique entry point into community radio history and understanding life in the Midwest in the mid-to-late twentieth century.