WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM · Student Content

Collegian Week in Review: February 26th, 2026.

·25 min·2 clips

Erika Kaiba won an IBS award for her poetry show, aiming to make poetry accessible to everyone.

This episode of the Collegian Weekend Review features hosts Alessia Sandella and Tate Christensen, joined by several guests from the Hillsdale College newspaper and radio station. The hosts discuss recent achievements in collegiate broadcasting, a new poetry collection, and a local solar project update. Guest Erika Kaiba won a Best Specialty Show Non-Music award from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System for her weekly radio program, "The Poetry Fix." Kaiba's show provides a weekly poetry reading and analysis aimed at making poetry accessible to a broader audience. She started the program in her sophomore year to counter the perception that poetry is not for everyone. Kaiba argues poetry is a human art form that offers a snapshot of an author's inner world, which can resonate personally with readers. She notes a common barrier is archaic or complicated language, citing T.S. Eliot as an example of a challenging poet. The conversation then shifts to Caroline Kurt, who discusses a new poetry collection by a Hillsdale alumnus. Editor-in-Chief Thomas McKenna provides an update on the ongoing Fayette Township Solar Project. An interesting insight is Kaiba's direct motivation: multiple people telling her "poetry isn't for me" spurred her to create the show. She emphasizes that a poem's specific, personal nature is precisely what allows it to speak universally to listeners. The award recognizes her success in making a specialized art form engaging for a general college audience. The episode balances celebrating a student's national award with practical updates on alumni work and local community developments. The tone is collegial, celebratory, and conversational, reflecting a campus radio show's style. The style is interview-based and news-focused, moving efficiently between different segments. Listeners interested in collegiate media, poetry, and Hillsdale College's student projects would enjoy this episode. Those seeking in-depth political commentary or long-form narrative might find it too brief and locally focused.

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