Raised on Radio

By Diva HarrisJune 10, 2026

In the company of Paul Rees’ ‘Raised on Radio – Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola: The AOR Glory Years 1976-1986’, Travis Elborough dips into the history of Adult Orientated Rock — the sound of a confident, car-driving North America. As with books and movies, commercial success in pop music is no guarantee of critical credibility. Reviewers, […]

Read article

Comments

No comments yet.

Now Playing

‘Growing Roots’ by Modern Biology & Zekarias Musele Thompson. Plants Can Dance by A State Of Flo Taken from the forthcoming compilation Plants Can Dance. Curated by Brian d’Souza (aka Auntie Flo), Plants Can Dance brings together a global community of artists, exploring the creative possibilities of biosonification — transforming signals from plants, ecosystems and […]

Diva HarrisJun 13, 2026

Caught by the River

If a Tree Falls

Rick Blything introduces the field recording project which sees him uploading a wealth of nature sounds to YouTube. I’ve been recording nature sounds since 2011 when I first got my hands on a Roland R-09 hand-held recorder and perched it in a tree at my mum’s house to capture the complex chatter of Starlings. Soon […]

Diva HarrisJun 12, 2026

Caught by the River

Persistence of Ache / The Thaw Begins

A poem by Ruby Butler. Morning tightens its belt of mist. Something unhooks in me, a lark’s note caught low, where the body keeps its weather. I have known this ache before: not pain or hunger, but the iron-taste before rain when the ground remembers old heat. It tucks itself under the ribs, a curled […]

Diva HarrisJun 11, 2026

Caught by the River

Save The Lammermuirs

The Lammermuirs are one of Scotland’s most treasured rural landscapes, known for their wildlife, open moorland, dark skies, hill farming, heritage and tranquillity. This morning, Benjamin Myers wrote to us with news of plans to build an industrial-scale data centre on them. Dear landscape-loving writers and friends, For 13 years I’ve been lucky enough to […]

Diva HarrisJun 8, 2026

Caught by the River

Kerri ní Dochartaigh’s Pleasures of… Spring

In addition to sending paid Steady subscribers monthly interviews with authors of our Books of the Month, once a quarter, we invite a different writer to share their most favourite and pleasurable moments of the season. This month, Kerri ní Dochartaigh delights in Spring’s cracking open. Read an excerpt from the piece below, and log in […]

Kerri ní DochartaighMay 10, 2026

Caught by the River

Book of the Month: May

May’s Book of the Month is Melissa Harrison‘s ‘The Given World’ — a novel observing how the lives of people in the ancient Welm Valley intersect as the village undergoes an uneasy shift. Read an extract from the book below. The spring sun draws life from everything it touches, giving rise, among many in the […]

Melissa HarrisonMay 11, 2026

Raised on Radio

Related

Now Playing

If a Tree Falls

Persistence of Ache / The Thaw Begins

Save The Lammermuirs

Kerri ní Dochartaigh’s Pleasures of… Spring

Book of the Month: May