dickenbock

"Vacancy" is a word most associated with hotels but did you know if wasn't until the third decade of the 20th century that it was used to mean that? That's the sort of useless fact you'll hear on this week's episode of Self Help Radio, which had the theme "vacancy." But tho... Read more

Every year Self Help Radio explores a different Valentine's Day related theme on the holiday. This year that theme is "affection." Enjoy lots of music about affection plus some callers call in to answer the question "Is affection important?" & our resident cinephile stops by... Read more

A radio show about nickels! Lots of songs about nickels! Interview with nickel-related guests! There's even a fable! & it won't cost you a nickel! (The last hour is an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming featuring musicians we lost in October + November 2024.) Read more

Here is a hopefully not terrifying but edifying episode of Self Help Radio with the theme "tornados." As you can see below, there are many songs about tornados. Plus I talk to a storm chaser & a meterologist, & our resident cinephile talks about movies featuring tornados. Se... Read more

Self Help Radio this week was a show about talent. Not a talent show. Though there were songs about talent shows to be sure. & interviews with someone who claims to be talentless, someone whose book Teaching Talent suggests one can learn talent, & someone who intends to put... Read more

Every year since I began Self Help Radio in 2002, I take the opportunity on my birthday week to explore my favorite music from a year of my life. It began with my birthday in 2003, when I explored my favorite music from 1968, the year of my birth. I have made it up to 1989,... Read more

Though probably the show is generally described as "peculiar," the first Self Help Radio of 2025 was an explicitly peculiar show. Songs involved the word peculiar, two guests who competed in the Most Peculiar Person In Portland Contest 2024 - including the winner! - & some ... Read more

On the last Self Help Radio of 2024 - on the last day of the year - I returned to a series that I started a long time ago & far far away. An attempt to present in alphabetical order artists+bands in the genre of indiepop. What is indiepop? The Wikipedia has a good definitio... Read more

Please don't think of this as a "best of." I think whatever music you like best is what's best for you. This is just a lot of my favorite music of the year. The only criteria I have is that I seemed to listen to these records a lot. It indicates to me that I liked them a lo... Read more

On this week's show, I continued to pay tribute to an old friend & collaborator who appeared on Self Help Radio in improvised bits as The Rev Dr Howard Gently. These are the 67th-78th appearances of Howard Gently, from 2016 & 2017. It's not quite the end of his third year -... Read more