Q: Where is Upstate New York?

A: While there is some disagreement as to the geographic area that constitutes Upstate New York, for our purposes we define Upstate New York as the region of New York state that is located to the north and/or west of Westchester and Rockland counties. While this definition is admittedly somewhat arbitrary, we feel that for the time being these county lines serve as adequate boundaries between the area of New York state that culturally identifies with New York City (”Downstate“) and the area that does not (”Upstate“)

Q: I see that you will often end a podcast with a song. Can I get my song played on Radio Free Upstate?

A: We are quite open to playing user-submitted songs, provided the artist asks nicely. To get the process started, send your song (or better yet, a link to the song) and any background information to radiofreeupstate@gmail.com. Once we receive your song, we will review it and decide whether or not we think it is something that we want to play. Here are some of our guidelines we use to determine whether or not a song will be played on Radio Free Upstate:

Geographic Location of Artist - While we often do play music from artists from outside Upstate New York, we do give priority to Upstate artists.

Legal Issues - For legal reasons, we only play podsafe music, or music that the artist has given us their express permission to play.

Length - We try to keep the podcast under 45 minutes, which means we are unlikely to play any song that is longer than six minutes in its entirety.

Production Quality - If the production quality of your song makes it hard or painful to listen to by our judgment, we will not play it.

Political/Social Content - We do not play songs that endorse points of view that we find to be morally repugnant, except possibly to criticize them.

Profanity - We tend not to play songs that contain large amounts of profanity unless we believe that the song possesses sufficient artistic value to warrant playing it. Songs that contain profanity will be accompanied by a warning in the podcast, so that people at work or around small children have the option of turning off the podcast at that point.

Q: I’m a new listener and I want to listen to all the episodes of Radio Free Upstate. Where can I find episodes 1-58?

A: Radio Free Upstate began as a political commentary podcast in the June of 2005. However, as time has gone on we have changed our focus from explicitly political to being more focused on social and cultural activities in Upstate New York and the world. While we may discuss issues of a political nature from time to time, our major focus has changed and we have removed our political podcasts as a sign of this change.

While we still have the master copies of these programs, they are no longer available for download through our website.

Q: I’ve heard you mention your 2006 Holiday Gift List before. Where can I find this?

Here’s our gift list:

Holiday Gift List: This is our list of gifts we like for the holiday season and gifts we don’t like at all. For gifts we like are available for purchase both from the links on this page and from our Amazon store, whereas the links for the gifts we don’t like are linked to their page on Wikipedia.

  • For kids ages 0-6: Study after study shows that kids who are read to do better in almost every endeavor that requires brain power. Get them started right by reading to them from this wonderful collection of 13 books by Dr. Seuss. Jen personally recommends (as a teacher) getting kids toys that encourage them to explore their surroundings and don’t involved staring at a TV.
  • For kids ages 7-13: One of our favorite series as children (and as as adults) is the classic Chronicles of Narnia. While the stories might be a bit scary for children under the age of seven, they combine timeless values with a strong storyline that has kept countless children riveted. If your kids are reluctant about reading, you can always pair the books with the DVD of “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” and see if you can’t get them interested in the rest of the series. The Harry Potter series is similarly excellent. But please, whatever you do, let your kids be kids and don’t give them toys that encourage them to act like gangsters or trashy adults.
  • Our interlude song today is “By Your Love” by Matthew Casteel. Check him out at the Podsafe Music Network.
  • For the busy person: Do you know a busy person that is still messing around with a paper organizer that keeps falling apart? Get them a Palm Z22, a highly-reviewed “basic” PDA that won’t break the bank at less than $100. Not only does it keep your schedule and contacts straight, but it also syncs up with both Mac and Windows computers. You can even use it to play solitaire! Alternatively, you could get them a back massager that goes on their favorite chair.
  • For your coworkers: As long as your colleagues aren’t Muslims, Mormons or in AA, Gideon suggests going with a nice bottle of Upstate New York wine. It’s enjoyable and if they don’t like it, it’s easy to re-gift. If wine isn’t an option, Jen suggests personalized ornaments, gift cards or used books.