I have long believed in the power of the human mind to make the human body feel better and more relaxed. Very often in my radio broadcasting I have felt there was an overload in serious news. One guest on a podcast interview, Jim Bouchard, even said he believed that too much attention to the news can depress people. I believe he had that one spot on.

It can be a fine line but it is possible to develop an atmosphere of light-hearted comment whilst discussing serious topics and I also like to use my imagination to see how other people will react to the lines I am developing.

One of my regular guests, Eric Malpus, was a great partner in crime for me and one day he casually remarked he had been in a situation where he had been forced to separate two dogs that were fighting.

I immediately realised what a horrible situation that could have been and decided to lighten the perspective without demeaning the bravery of Eric. I had a visual image of a dog being shown the yellow card like the warning that is given in soccer, Other listeners also seemed to want to join in the silliness and if you listen to their voices you can tell they were not youngsters.

I totally agree there is a point where you can become too silly but as a break from the incessant stream of bad news on talk radio or the constant barrage of music elsewhere this kind of silly discussion brings a real bond between the listeners and the hosts.

This, in turn, begins to show how the radio can forge bonds between the listeners and as a member of an expat community living in Spain I feel this is a true development of community radio.

I will write soon on the subject of where radio has been heading for a while and the value of talk radio. In the meantime please enjoy the natural banter developed in this broadcast....http://www.vincetracy.com/sillychats.html

Author's Bio: 

Vince has a BA in Recreation and the Community and began his career in Hospital radio at Clatterbridge, Wirral Merseyside
e has worked for the BB C at Radio Merseyside and the Spanish Broadcaster, Onda Cero. He also developed his teaching ideas with a B. Phil(Ed) which can be applied to life in general.