WYRZ Podcasts

WYRZ Podcasts is not one show. It is what a locally owned Hendricks County, Indiana station puts out over a month, bundled into a single feed, and the variety is the appeal. Some episodes are utility service journalism. Some are graduation-season keepsakes. Some are long music interviews that wander happily off topic. The anchor segment is Connected with the Hendrix Power Cooperative, a monthly series hosted by Brian Scott and presented by the co-op itself, covering everything from electrical safety and efficiency to community programs. The guest chair rotates. CEO Greg Tourne comes on for Lineman Appreciation Day, moved a week early to land on the date, and explains the training pipeline behind the job: hire in as a groundman, train internally, at least five years to reach lineman. That conversation follows a stretch of severe storms and outages, which gives it weight it would not otherwise have. Curtis Dahl and Tom Good handle downed power lines and spring storm prep, and their advice is refreshingly unglamorous. Keep the phones charged. Build a kit. Flashlights, batteries, bottled water, medication, first aid, non-perishable food, a battery-powered radio somewhere easy to find. Emily Thomas and Heather Thompson turn up for the co-op's youth programs and its legislative breakfast series, described as one of the largest in the state, with dates and RSVP deadlines repeated carefully for anyone tuning in late. A cold snap cancelled one breakfast, so the calendar gets rebuilt on air. Then the feed changes character completely. Look Who Just Dropped In brings Lilly Scholars from the Hendricks County Community Foundation into the studio for short, warm conversations about high school and what comes next. Hayden Gabbard, graduating from Cascade High School with a class of about 120 and heading to Butler University, talks about being ready for somewhere new and about a single mom who heard every story and drove her to interviews so she would not have to drive nervous. It is the kind of exchange that only local radio bothers to record. Sights and Sounds stretches out further, with host Alan interviewing music guests, including Richard Sterban of The Oak Ridge Boys, who discusses producer Dave Cobb, an album called Mama's Boys, and the group's decision not to retire just yet. The connective tissue across all of it is register. The questions stack up and circle back. Answers are allowed to run. Nobody is racing a clock. Station identifications and sponsor framing sit right in the middle of episodes rather than being edited away, which is part of what makes the feed feel like a place instead of a product.