WBAI is a non-commercial, listener sponsored New York radio station, located at 99.5 MHz FM. The station broadcasts from 120 Wall Street, in Manhattan. WBAI is part of the Pacifica Foundation. It joined the foundation in 1960, when it was given to Pacifica by philanthropist Louis Schweitzer.
WBAI is home to Democracy Now!, an award-winning news show. Besides news, WBAI offers a diversity of radio formats, ranging from free-form radio to music shows based around recreations of Medieval music or original recordings of Golden Age of Radio-era serials. "Grandpa" Al Lewis (a former sitcom star), currently hosts a political talk show on the weekends, and the hacker group 2600 has a technology-oriented show on Wednesdays. Economics journalist Doug Henwood has a weekly slot on Thursdays, discussing curent affairs. Most of WBAI's shows display a distinctively left-wing bent.
In 1973, the station broadcast comedian George Carlin's infamous Seven Dirty Words routine; see FCC v. Pacifica Foundation for a detailed account of the court case that ensued. It wasn't until WBAI aired the routine that the seven curse words (which were jokingly cited as being prohibited from American broadcasting) indeed became officially prohibited from broadcasting by the FCC.
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