Radio Free Cardinal

Putting a Stanford spin on campus radio.

Maayan Dembo, '14, aka DJ May-jahn, hosts "Pumping Iron" from Studio A. The two-hour live show mixes dubstep, electro, house, trance and "maybe also some Enya curveballs."

View photo album >>

By Julia James

Powered mostly on the volunteer labor of students, faculty and a few local residents since its inception in 1947, Stanford's underground (literally!) radio station KZSU beams news, tunes and sports coverage across the Bay Area from its home in the basement of Memorial Auditorium. The windowless den, largely unchanged since a few major construction projects in the late '60s and early '70s, features a two-track reel-to-reel tape recorder from the 1980s, along with a bunch of other stuff that chief engineer Mark Lawrence, '67, considers "too good to throw out as e-waste." Brand-new digital consoles, installed recently at a cost of $43,000, have spruced the place up a bit. But KZSU is in no danger of losing its authentic college feel: A grungy couch, a Jimi Hendrix mural and pot of perpetually stale coffee speak to the station's soul.

Julia James, '06, MA '11, is a science writer based in Palo Alto.

Comments (1)

You must log in to comment.

KZSU is sacred hollowed ground. Professor Robert Pogue Harrison, the host of the program "Entitled Opinions in Life and LIterature" aptly terms the station The Catacombs. His weekly broadcast is a continuing source of education and enlightenment. During last year's reunion a radio staffer graciously squired me around the premises, boasting the largest collection of LPs I have ever seen (won't bother defining this acronym for the ITunes generation). He also poured a tall glass of red wine. KZSU Forever! John Driscoll '76

Posted by Mr. John T. Driscoll, Jr. on Nov 15, 2011 6:26 PM