Jack Inslee’s Full Service Radio brings a rotating cast of radio shows to the lobby of the new LINE Hotel.
Photo Courtesy of Full Service Radio
Washington has its fair share of talking heads, but a new wave of conversationalists has arrived, armed with an eclectic assortment of content far more diverse than mere politics. Full Service Radio, a podcast network and internet radio station, has made its home in the lobby of the new LINE Hotel in Adams Morgan where local chefs, musicians and artists are just a few of the hosts who will make pit-stops to the lively studio to record their weekly shows. The project,helmed by Jack Inslee, provides a platform to and for the local community. Inslee, a longtime producer and musician, believes the varied content, which is available online 24/7 and in hotel rooms, will extend beyond the District and “Teach the national creative audience about D.C. and change the way they see D.C.”
Jack Inslee (Photo Courtesy of Full Service Radio)
Inslee was pitched the idea by the hotel’s creative director and friend Kathryn Bangs as she looked for ways to integrate the new property with its surrounding neighborhood prior to its opening. At the time he was running a food-centric podcast network in Brooklyn and had initial doubts about finding enough interest in Washington–a city he had previously only field- tripped to as a youngster.
With the help of creative catalyst Morgan H.West, word spread, show pitches started rolling in and Inslee found himself with the opposite problem. Soon the roster of 12 planned shows turned into 33, with topics including art, culture, food, music and local lore. He spent a year narrowing down ideas, recording pilots and generating content before the hotel officially opened its doors at the end of last year.The first season will run over the next 16 weeks.
Inslee stresses that because Full Service Radio is independent from the hotel it is able to operate as a true “community project” undeterred by the ratings that can make or break new media ventures. When it comes time to assess season one, Inslee will use more subjective metrics and ask: “How is it serving the community?
Is it representing community correctly? Are the right people involved?” He hopes Full Service Radio can act as a talent incubator for hosts (who own their own intellectual property) so that they can eventually take their shows to bigger audiences. For now, with each new studio session, Inslee is falling more in love with a city he describes as“earnest”and“hungry.”“I’ve found that when people say they do something here,”he notes,“they actually do it.”
TUNE IN:
Listen now at Fullserviceradio.org.
Photographer Kate Warren hosts adults-only show “Insert Here” about non- heteronormative relationships.
The goal of “District Derkas” hosted by Sama’a Al- Hamdani and Lilia Okalina is to “demistify” preconceived notions on Middle Eastern culture.
D.C. Public Library’s “DCPL Radio” features local author talks and interviews.
Jamal Gray hosts extended mixes, interviews and in- studio performances on his music show “Late Bloom.”
This article appeared in the February 2018 issue of Washington Life Magazine.
