Inaugural broadcast - Nick Booth introduces the station, and Mama Cass

After nearly 5 years of lead in 2SER finally hit the airwaves on Oct 1, 1979. Here’s a copy of the first minute, preserved by enthusiast Andrew Host and reproduced here with his permission. For a long time we thought the piece had actually been lost, given that then General Manager Keith Jackson ac…

Yarraka Bayles - from 2SER to Radio Redfern and Radio Skid Row part 1 - Tiga Bayles

Some of the pioneers of 2SER, and more importantly, of the Australian media generally, are Tiga Bayles and Maureen Watson. Tiga’s daughter and Maureen’s granddaughter, Yarraka Bayles, talks here about the energy, legacy and fearless leadership of her family’s work in the 1980s and beyond. While sad…

Yarraka Bayles - from 2SER to Radio Redfern and Radio Skid Row part 2 - Maureen Watson

There’s so much to say about the work of Yarraka Bayles’ family and the influence they have had. In this piece Yarraka talks about her grandmother, the broadcaster, poet, activist, artist and feminist Maureen Watson, who was on 2SER in the 1980s. She paved for not just Indigenous Women, but so many…

Fifth Anniversary - Do Re Mi and others

The celebration for 2SER’s fifth anniversary was led by two of the station’s powerhouses at the time – Virginia Madsen and Jill Emberson. Although they were technically sharing one job, both were so committed they were at the station “all the time,” in order to keep the station going. As Virginia e…

3600 seconds - Virginia Madsen

One of 2SER’s pioneering music programs, 3600 was started by Virginia Madsen, joined by John Potts. Both are now acclaimed academics at Macquarie University in the Department of Media, Music, Communications and Cultural Studies. As Virginia recalls here, the show was about genre hopping and going b…

Bill Anthes setting up the 2SER antenna

Easily the best shot of 2SER’s early days – Bill Anthes and his colleagues take a very close look at the broadcast antenna as it was being tested for broadcast. The event clearly took place well before OH and S was a thing, and also included a helicopter ride to get the shot just right. Here Bill e…

Keith Jackson talks Listening Post

2SER’s station magazine, Listening Post, was first published the month before we launched in 1979, and ran until 1997. Prior to his work at 2SER Keith had a history in educational radio in other regions, notably working for the ABC in their educational division in Papua New Guinea. This experience …

David Jobling - Volunteer of the year

2SER is built on the tireless enthusiasm of its volunteers. There has to have been thousands who have come through our doors in 40 years. Just one of note is David Jobling, who was with us from 2000-2005. In addition to being Volunteer of the Year, he also launched The Daily, contributed to The Alt…

Kaye Blackman - empowerment through community radio

Former station manager Kaye Blackman took hold of 2SER in the 1980s and 90s, serving 14 years in the role and as its first female leader. During that time she inspired many with her energy and passion, as well as pioneering new spaces for groups who may have otherwise been overlooked. One of these …

John Martin - creating a network with other community stations

2SER’s second station manager John Martin saw the station through it’s ‘difficult second album’ phase. He did this by working fearlessly and with great ambition. One example of his vision was the collaboration between stations like ours and other community broadcasters. Without compromising quality…