''World Cafe'' is a two-hour-long, nationally syndicated music

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

that originates from

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format sh ...

, a non-commercial station licensed to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The program began on October 14, 1991David Dye Announces A Change With 'World Cafe' Radio Show
''

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'', November 14, 2016. and was originally distributed by

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...

. Since 2005, the show has been distributed by NPR.

Background

''World Cafe'' features live performances and interviews with established and emerging artists. The program's format covers a wide spectrum of

musical genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...

s, including

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, folk,

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

, singer-songwriter,

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

, and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. The program produces two weekly podcasts containing interviews and information about musical performers: "''World Cafe'' Words and Music," which features more established singers and bands, and "''World Cafe'' Next," which highlights emerging artists. Since the program's launch, ''World Cafe'' was hosted by David Dye. The program announced Talia Schlanger as its new host in February 2017."'World Cafe' Selects Talia Schlanger as New Host"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', February 24, 2017. Dye continued as full-time host and producer of the radio show until March 31, 2017, continuing afterward as a part-time contributor to the program and sometime fill-in host, although Schlanger guest-hosted some episodes in Dye's absence in advance of becoming the program's official host as of April 1. In June 2019, Schlanger announced her departure from the program, to return to other creative projects. In September 2019, the program announced Raina Douris as its new host, beginning October 7. Other contributors to the program have included Michaela Majoun, Ann Powers and Stephen Kallao."WXPN adds Stephen Kallao as new 'World Cafe' contributing host"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', December 4, 2017

''Live at the World Cafe''

''Live at the World Cafe'' is an ongoing series of

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s showcasing artists that appear on the radio program. The first volume was published in 1995. the series consists of 46 volumes.

References

External links

*
World Cafe Live
{{Authority control 1991 radio programme debuts Public Radio International programs NPR programs American music radio programs