Blunt Youth Radio Project

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WMPG’s Blunt Youth Radio Project brings together Maine teenagers to produce audio stories and interviews on topics that matter to them. Finished work is aired on WMPG or made available in podcast format.

The young people handle all aspects of audio production: story development, contacting interview subjects, reporting, recording, editing, on-air hosting, broadcast engineering, podcast production, and sharing and promoting finished audio pieces. Whether youth are participating in Blunt-hosted workshops or are long-term audio correspondents, there is room for everyone to be part of our audio team. 

Blunt Youth Radio Project is the winner of thirteen regional and national broadcasting awards. Blunt has been on air for 20 years, and our work has aired on various NPR programs, the BBC, Marketplace, and This American Life, as well as many stations around the country through the Public Radio Exchange. Our broadcast can be heard Tuesday nights from 7:30-8:30 EST on WMPG-FM, Greater Portland, Community Radio

Series

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4 Pieces

Blunt Presents Special Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election

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3 Pieces

Teens and their families talk about S-E-X.

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3 Pieces

Blunt youth producers explore the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by documenting the displaced, and taking at hard look at the racial inequality exposed by the storm.

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22 Pieces

Incarcerated youth from the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, Maine tell stories of life behind bars.

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8 Pieces

Blunt goes to the Maine Women's Lobby Economic Summit.

Caption: Messges from Japan, Credit: Eleanor Graf
9 Pieces

Blunt Youth Radio is trying to give Japanese people a way to tell the story of their experience following the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Messages from Japan is gathering and sharing the stories of regular Japanese people since the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

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5 Pieces

Young people all over the country are deeply driven to be youth climate activists. One way they are doing this is by figuring out how to best use their voice to advocate for the issues that matter most to them. Youth producers from around southern Maine met virtually during the pandemic as part of a 12-week Blunt Youth Radio audio workshop focused on climate activism. These pieces are their final projects created during the workshop.

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13 Pieces

Youth Led Public Affairs Live from Blunt Youth Radio


Pieces

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Emily LaFond can't handle the shame of not being the best. But an embarrassing stint on the school swim team helped her lose her ego.

Bought by WXLV-FM


  • Added: Jan 02, 2007
  • Length: 06:30
  • Purchases: 1
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When Nikki became a mother of two at the age of seventeen she promised to leave her life of drugs and crime behind. It was a promise she couldn't k...

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis, Remix Radio, YouthCast, and WXLV-FM


  • Added: Nov 28, 2006
  • Length: 06:25
  • Purchases: 4
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In 1969 the Supreme Court found that students "do not shed their constitutional rights...at the schoolhouse gate." Today, most schools retain the r...

Bought by KUOW, WXLV-FM, KOOP, WXLV-FM, and KXOT Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 21, 2006
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 5
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Some kids joke about dropping out, but when Sarah Smith's family started to fall apart, she saw it as her only option.

Bought by SpiritHouse Inc/Youth Noise Network, WXLV-FM, YouthCast, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Jul 03, 2006
  • Length: 02:21
  • Purchases: 4
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Do you need to lose your virginity to be considered a man? Parris Cayer-Leary turns to his grandfather for answers.

Bought by WXLV-FM


  • Added: Nov 22, 2005
  • Length: 05:06
  • Purchases: 1
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Johanna Greenberg says parents, including her own, are falling down on the job when it comes to "the talk." So she makes the first move.

Bought by KZYX, PRX to iTunes, and YouthCast


  • Added: Nov 21, 2005
  • Length: 03:16
  • Purchases: 3
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As a way to approach that awkward child-parent sex talk, Aoife Baker and her mom both read Sabrina Weill's "The Real Truth about Teens and Sex." In...

  • Added: Nov 21, 2005
  • Length: 03:15
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After living their whole lives in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, teenagers Tyrel and Tevin Wooten are starting life over at their new hom...

Bought by YouthCast and WXLV-FM


  • Added: Oct 27, 2005
  • Length: 02:31
  • Purchases: 2
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Matt and Cassie are addicted to drugs, alcohol - and each other.

Bought by PRX Remix, Remix Radio, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Oct 25, 2005
  • Length: 09:19
  • Purchases: 3
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When KC was eleven her mother kicked her and one of her sisters out of the house. Forced to figure out how to survive on her own, she turned to dru...

Bought by PRX Remix, Remix Radio, and KUOW


  • Added: Oct 25, 2005
  • Length: 04:05
  • Purchases: 3