World Cafe Celebrates 35 Years
• Throughout the month of October, public radio’s leading music program World Cafe® will celebrate its 35th anniversary with special programming highlighting the music discovery and award-winning storytelling that have shaped the show since its launch by founding host David Dye in 1991.
Produced by WXPN/Philadelphia, hosted by Raina Douris (left) with contributing host Stephen Kallao (right) and distributed nationally by NPR, World Cafe reaches more than 300 public radio stations nationwide. Watch the trailer for World Cafe’s 35th Anniversary HERE.
“World Cafe has always been about discovery — and rediscovery,” says host Raina Douris. “Even years into hosting the show, I often still have moments where I am amazed by the depth of World Cafe‘s archives of performances and interviews. Getting to share gems from the archives as we celebrate World Cafe‘s 35th anniversary — while continuing to add to them with conversations and sessions from exciting new artists every week, is such a joy and a privilege.”
The anniversary celebration kicks off Thursday, Oct. 1, with the first of five “First Time” features, revisiting the debut World Cafe conversations with musicians who went on to become some of today’s standout artists. The series will spotlight Clairo on October 1, beabadoobee on October 6, Arlo Parks on October 15, Wet Leg on October 21, and Danielle Ponder on October 30.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, the actual 35th anniversary of its first broadcast, World Cafe will mark the occasion with a new interview and performance from Remi Wolf, whose new album Mud will be released on Oct. 9.
The anniversary month will also feature four episodes of “Backtracking,” World Cafe‘s new series that asks artists to select songs from their own catalog in response to different prompts. Artists then share the stories behind the songs they’ve chosen. October’s “Backtracking” artists include Feist on Oct. 5, David Gray on Oct. 12, Lucinda Williams on Oct. 19, and Josh Ritter on Oct. 26.
Fridays throughout the month will bring a mix of new interviews and performances including The Wiggles on Oct. 2, Alabama Shakes on Oct. 9, Jen Agg for a Personal Records feature on Oct. 16, Social Distortionon Oct. 23, and Lizzy McAlpine on Oct. 30. The program will also look back across all four decades of its history with a series of needle drops highlighting music from the ’90s, ’00s, ’10s, and ’20s during the weeks of Oct. 5, 12, 19, and 26, respectively.
And on Oct. 28, World Cafe will join public radio stations around the country in celebrating Public Radio Music Day with a special “Sounds Like Home” episode.
“When we launched World Cafe in 1991, the idea was to create a place where listeners could discover great music and artists could have meaningful conversations about their work,” said World Cafe Executive Producer Bruce Warren. “The music has changed enormously over 35 years, but that sense of discovery and connection has remained at the heart of the show. It’s incredible to look back at the artists who have come through the Cafe and realize how much musical history we’ve had the opportunity to document along the way.” [Douris & Kallao photos by Paige Walter]
