Citizen Kafka (also known as Sid Kafka and The Citizen) was the stage name of New York-based radio personality and folk musician Richard Shulberg (November 20, 1947, Brooklyn, New York – March 14, 2009).
Beginning in the late 1970s and continuing through much of the 1990s, Citizen Kafka produced and hosted a number of radio programs on
Pacifica Foundation
Pacifica Foundation is an American nonprofit organization that owns five independently operated, Non-commercial educational, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their Contemporary progressivism, progressive/liberal polit ...
's
WBAI-FM
WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music ...
in New York, presenting an eclectic range of live and recorded music, comedy and poetry. One such program was the monthly "Citizen Kafka Show", which Kafka co-created in 1979 with then-unknown actor
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...
and musician
Kenny Kosek
Kenny Kosek (born 1949 in The Bronx, New York), is an American fiddler who plays bluegrass, country, klezmer, folk music and roots music. In addition to his solo career, he has performed with many other well-known performers and contributed to ...
. The Citizen Kafka Show, which ran during much of the 1980s, featured live improvisational sketch comedy by Goodman and Kosek along with music DJ'd by Kafka.
Kafka later co-hosted a program with Pat Conte called ''The Secret Museum of the Air'', which ran on WBAI from
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
to
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
. This show presented unusual music from various genres and cultures, most of it recorded before 1948. Kafka and Conte moved the show to
WFMU
WFMU (91.1 MHz) is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, independent radio, independent community radio station city of license, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey, with studios in Jersey City. It is owned by ...
, 91.1 FM in
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
. Archived shows, comprising hundred of hours from ''The Secret Museum'', are available here: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/SM
Parallel to his long radio career, Citizen Kafka also performed actively as a bluegrass musician. This included a stint as a leader of perennial New York bluegrass band the Wretched Refuse String Band.
References
*Kelly Crow, "Free Tales From Mr. Kafka's Crypt (And Thousands of Records, Too), New York Times, 28 October 2001, p. CY8.
*Jon Kalish, "A Musical Voyage to Lost Worlds", New York Times, 18 June 2000, p. AR33.
*Jaime Wolf, "No Hits, All the Time", New York Times, 11 April 1999, p. SM74.
*Franz Lidz, "Down Mean Alleys with John Goodman", New York Times, 8 March 1998, p. AR15.
*Peter de Jonge, "Being the Big Guy", New York Times, 10 February 1991, p. SM44.
*Ken Hunt, Obituary in Independent (UK) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/richard-shulberg-musician-and-radio-presenter-known-as-lsquocitizen-kafka-1651830.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kafka, Citizen
American radio personalities
Pacifica Foundation people
1947 births
2009 deaths