Radio “M” Out of Neutral Switzerland — Not Your Grandfather’s Radio Station

Cary Harrison, the highly regarded social commentator for public radio station KPFK-fm in Los Angeles, returned this summer to his boarding school roots — Institut Montana Zugerberg — to introduce a fresh crop of students into the mystery and magic of … radio? Well, somewhat.

This is not a terrestrial radio station built along analog transmissions with giant towers, licensing, and massive staffing. Rather, it is a streaming station called “Radio M” after its Institut home in the Swiss mountains and is staffed by students ranging in age from 10–16 hailing from a literal United Nations of 34 countries. As its creator and instructor and at the invitation of the Institut’s accomplished leadership, Cary had to carefully craft and adapt his years of real-world thinking to their generational interests.

This effort has now materialized into a combo video/radio station and the first of its kind as being international. The voices heard range from students from the US to Russia and from Ukraine to Saudi Arabia — an astounding blend of the of youth communicating intelligently about matters that affect them.

Harrison explains, “It uniquely benefits from being politically agnostic and without patriotic bent. I like to think of it as ‘Hotel Earth,’ where everyone gets a room.”