WRFI Community Radio

06/16/2026

WRFI has received it's first ever Community Empowerment Grant from the Ithaca Pride Alliance!

WRFI Community Radio is the recipient of a micro-grant from the Ithaca Pride Alliance to record and broadcast a series of local history audio "mini-sodes" highlighting q***r artists, musicians, and q***r community spaces in Ithaca and greater Tompkins County from the 20th century.

Local q***r history efforts have worked tirelessly over the last decade to increase the visibility of historic LGBTQ+ narratives in our community, but without consistent effort and integration into our daily lives, these stories don’t become common knowledge. Drawing on the research developed to produce the Ithaca LGBT History Walking Tour in 2019 and the LGBTQ+ Print Cultures Walking Tour in 2023, we plan to create a series of 10 one-to-two minute “mini-sodes” that will air multiple times each over the time period of this grant. The funding request supports the development and production costs for 4-5 of these episodes, and WRFI will match this funding through a donation of staff time and resources to develop an additional 5-6 episodes for the series to round out at 10 minisodes that will air regularly in 2026 and 2027.

Some names and locations we want to highlight include: Wendy Carlos, Harry Partch, Julius Eastman, Firebrand Books, Smedley’s Bookshop, and Common Ground among others. Radio friendly scripts will be developed from the research already completed on the LGBTQ themed walking and driving tours developed for Tompkins County over the last 5 years. Each minisode will be recorded by LGBTQ+ DJs and show hosts already affiliated with WRFI Community Radio, furthering the representation of local q***r voices on the station airwaves.

Particularly when q***r voices and narratives are being more forcefully excluded from media coverage and public spaces nationally we at WRFI think that joyful and appreciative inclusion through a local history lens has the possibility to shift perspectives and educate more of our listening audience on the impact and contributions of q***r community on our local culture.

Our thanks to the Ithaca Pride Alliance for supporting this project, to DJ Danielle Bass of Monsoon Radio who encouraged the station to apply for this project, and to Luca Maurer and Dr. Jeffry Iovannone respectively for giving WRFI permission to use research and content from the walking tours to introduce these local histories to new audiences.

06/09/2026

Find WRFI Community Radio the First Annual Schuyler County Pride Celebration! Thursday June 11th from 4-6pm at the Montour Falls Farmer's Market.

We'll be tabling, and connecting with more of our 91.9FM listeners from Watkins Glen, Montour Falls, and Odessa.

Tune in to LGBTQIA+ community weekly on the WRFI airwaves, and listen for special shows celebrating q***r community throughout June.

Listen at 88.1 FM Ithaca, 89.7 FM Southern Finger Lakes, and 91.9 FM Watkins Glen, or stream online at WRFI.org/Listen.

Listen again at WRFI.org/archives, available for two weeks after broadcast, and permanently on WRFI's Spotify Channel.

06/09/2026

You could listen to WRFI here.

Broadcasting live from our studios in the historic Clinton House, and reaching across the Southern Finger Lakes from Cortland to Waverly, Elmira to Watkins Glen and most places in-between.

You can find us at 88.1 FM, 89.7 FM, and 91.9 FM - or stream us from anywhere at WRFI.org/listen and with the RadioReThink app (iOS compatible).

Good things happen when you listen.

This clip from Lowlands Radio on alternating Saturday afternoons.

06/08/2026

Support for WRFI comes from listeners, locally owned businesses, community events, and non-profits operating in our listening areas.

This June we want to extend our gratitude to our recent underwriters, and monthly supporters who have helped support the radio programming we bring you daily:

Downtown Ithaca
The Savage Club of Ithaca
Hupstate Circus Festival
Ithaca Pride Alliance
Arbor Housing and Development
Found in Ithaca: antiques, vintage and unusual objects
Finger Lakes ReUse
Wide Awake Bakery
Contemporary Trends
The Cherry Arts
Resident Noise
Sustainable Finger Lakes

Learn about ways to support our independent station at WRFI.org/SUPPORT or reach out to [email protected] to learn more.
---
Tune in at 88.1 FM Ithaca, 89.7 FM Southern Finger Lakes, and 91.9 FM Watkins Glen. Stream online at WRFI.org/Listen or with the Radio ReThink app (iOS compatible).

06/08/2026

Find WRFI Community Radio at Ithaca Pride Festival this coming Sunday June 14th from 10am-6pm in DeWitt Park.

Looking forward to celebrating PRIDE over the airwaves with our listeners all month long.

Thank you so much to our Ruby Sponsors for Ithaca Pride Fest 2026!

St Paul's United Methodist Church Q***r Despair and Resilience Circle

06/08/2026

If you missed it, you can still listen to Kevin Deery's "Press Record and Play - in Remembrance of Dan Aloi" show on the WRFI archives (WRFI.org/archives) for the next two weeks.

Dan was a long-time WRFI DJ, early supporter, and beloved community member. He is missed.

Special WRFI Radio Show Remembering Dan Aloi

We will "Press Record and Play" this Friday June 5th at 7 PM on WRFI Community Radio as we remember writer, musician, DJ, and good friend Dan Aloi, who we sadly lost this past week. I’ll be sharing musical memories and thoughts that Dan inspired through songs, musical artists,and stories. Please tune in at wrfi.org or 89.7 in NY’s Southern Finger Lakes.

06/08/2026

Community radio is climbing to new heights!

For years our listeners at on the outskirts of town have struggled to tune 88.1FM. thanks to a collaboration with our Ithaca-based frequency should reach farther and wider. Starting later today, tune in Ulysses! Tune in Trumansburg! Tune in everywhere you have been and further!

To keep our climbers safe, WVBR is off the air for the day. Ultimately we know we're stronger together but just for today we truly appreciate WVBR's support and the understanding of their listeners. Of course WVBR.com is streaming uninterrupted.

WVBR will be back to full power at 93.5FM by this evening.

WRFI frequencies at 88.1FM, 89.7FM, and 91.9FM are broadcasting as normal.

06/03/2026

WRFI has received it's first ever Downtown Ithaca Activations & Events Grant!

WRFI Community Radio and new downtown clothing shop and punk community hub Seed Bomb have received a micro grant to co-host a interactive DIY art, music, and community building event on the Ithaca Commons on Friday July 10th from 2-7pm - mark your calendars for PATCH ME THROUGH COMMUNITY!

Playing on the audio term “patch me through” where a person is connected via electronic communication to a wider network. WRFI DJs will be spinning records on the Ithaca Commons, connecting multiple of our on-air hosts with their in-community listeners. Seed Bomb is designing and screen printing new local radio themed fabric patches which will be available for purchase, as well as making radio-themed button pins inside the store during the event. Community textile craftivist Zoë Van Nostrand (aka ) will support participants in hand-sewing their new patches to personal clothing items throughout the event.

We envision "Patch Me Through Community" as a hub of community making and connecting, bridging the downtown experience from our weekly workers, into the summer Friday evening experience of the Ithaca Commons, and bringing our on-air listeners to the downtown Ithaca BID district and introducing them to one of the newest stores on the Commons.

Our thanks to Downtown Ithaca for supporting our Activations and Events proposal for this program. More details to be released in the coming weeks!

05/30/2026

Find WRFI Community Radio at GreenStar Food Co+op next Tuesday, June 2nd for the first GreenStar Gig of Summer 2026!

We'll be tabling, and enjoying the music and community of Mama Look!

WRFI is one of the featured Partners for Change at GreenStar this quarter, you can support the station every time you checkout by placing a token in our donation box! Learn more here: https://greenstar.coop/may-2026-positive-change-recipient-wrfi-community-radio/

05/30/2026

Tune in for for a PRIDE special episode of the WRFI Community Radio Human Rights and Social Justice Program with guest Ian Lekus, hosted by Dr. Ute Ritz-Deutch - Friday June 5 from 9-10am

Dr. Ian Lekus (he/him) is an internationally recognized historian, writer, and human rights expert. Across grassroots movements, the nonprofit sector, and academia, Ian has advocated for and researched LGBTQI+ justice, peace, and human rights for more than 25 years.

Currently, he works on policy and communications strategies for the Council for Global Equality, a coalition of 40 organizations working to make U.S. foreign policies and programs fully LGBTQI+-affirming and inclusive. His work at the Council includes coordinating its international partnerships to fight the anti-rights/anti-gender movement and leading its work to support LGBTQI+ refugees. He is also the principal for the coaching and consulting firm, Delta Changemakers, LLC.
--
Airing live Friday 6/5 from 9-10am at 88.1 FM Ithaca, 89.7 FM Southern Finger Lakes, and 91.9 FM Watkins Glen, or stream online at WRFI.org/Listen.

Listen again at WRFI.org/archives, available for two weeks after broadcast, or archived long-term on the Human Rights & Social Justice Program SoundCloud profile.