Our reporter asked Burns Court moviegoers what they thought of ‘The Airwaves Belong to the People’.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: September 17 2026
Host: WBCN, otherwise known in Boston as The People’s Radio, is the subject of a documentary film that came to a Sarasota theater for the first time. Our reporter Ramon Lopez talked to moviegoers to gauge their reactions and how they relate to radio.
Pam Alessandrelli, a former employee of WBCN who now lives in Sarasota, helped bring the documentary to Burns Court. | Photo: Lopez
Ramon Lopez: Yesterday, Burns Court Cinema in downtown Sarasota screened the award-winning documentary film called The Airwaves Belong to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution.
As the title would indicate, the film recounts how the Boston radio station replaced traditional 1960s rock and roll tunes with progressive rock music. At the same time, it helped fuel the political, social and cultural movements that transformed America in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The station was run by a community of young people, musicians and political activists. They believed the airwaves belonged to the people. They showed how media, dissent, music and collective action could help bring about social changes and the end of the Vietnam War.
Among those attending the one-day showing of the WBCN documentary were former Detroiters Paul and Nann Parr. Paul liked what he saw and heard about the revolutionary radio rocker.
Paul Parr: For me, it was entertainment. It took me back to the news that was going on at that day, and it put me where I was at that time while I’m watching the movie. Of course, I listened to the music they were playing. I was considered a hippie. I had long hair. We wore bell bottoms. My wife and I were dating at that time. For my genre, I related to it a lot. I thought it was a great movie. I think anybody in my age group, for sure, would want to see this movie.
Ringling College students at the film screening. | Photo: Lopez
RL: The film enjoyed a successful film festival run in 2018. It also aired on PBS stations nationwide. But a theatrical release was cut short by the COVID pandemic. The filmmakers decided the time was right to re-release the film, and it’s on a 104-city tour.
The prototype for community radio stations, including Sarasota’s own WSLR, WBCN is no longer on the air. But the legacy lives on as it is celebrated by the film’s creation and its current showings across the nation.
So old timers like Paul Parr and new generations of appreciative radio listeners, including 22 Ringling College students and their teacher, were able to grab a glimpse of what was.
Deb Gorham: I grew up in Massachusetts, so WBCN was a forbidden station for me. I was in Western Mass and we would, at midnight, wake up and try to tune it in. I didn’t realize all the history that went into it, so this was a wonderful documentary for me. I think it’s a must-see for anyone who is really concerned about how news is produced and about freedom of the press.
RL: The film also stirred fond memories for Helene Wexler-Gold, who worked at WBCN in the 1980s.
Helen Wexler-Gold: It was the craziest job I’ve ever had in my life. It was fun. It was educational. The antics and the craziness that went on inside involved everybody. Everybody was included. It wasn’t just the disc jockeys on one side and the sales on the other. We were one big family.
I miss working there, and I thought it was a lot of fun. It brought back some great memories.
RL: Abbie Hoffman, who hung out at WBCN, provides a PS—a fitting post script—to WBCN’s rise and fall.
Voice over: Abbie Hoffman, the godfather of the Yippies, was from Worcestershire, Mass, and he became an occasional correspondent for WBCN and was on the air. When he was asked to summarize the legacy of his work, he said, basically, “We were young. We were sometimes crazy. We made mistakes. But we were right.” I think that can be said of WBCN.
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6pm.