The media patron of the event is Radio Łódź, which not only brings its many years of experience and authority in the field of radio broadcasting, but also actively co-creates a space for dialogue between the scientific community and media practice.
The conference will also feature the premiere of the installation "Radio Room" by Justyna Banaszczyk (FOQL) – an artist working in the field of experimental electronic music, whose latest project expands the field of reflection on audiology and the radio space.
The conference places radio and audio studies within the broader context of contemporary media and cultural studies. The organisers want to create a forum for dialogue between radio studies, sound studies, media history, cultural studies and the analysis of digital platforms and online media. An interdisciplinary perspective is crucial, allowing us to consider radio as both a cultural institution, a technological medium, and a tool for building communities.
The conference programme will include academic presentations and meetings with practitioners related to radio broadcasting and sound art. Special guests will include Dr Daniel Muzyczuk, Director of the Museum of Art in Łódź, and editor Mariusz Woźniczka from Radio Łódź.
The conference will feature leading radio and sound researchers, as well as award-winning radio practitioners who co-create and shape the contemporary face of the medium, including Prof. Urszula Doliwa, dr hab. Grażyna Stachyra, dr hab. Tomasz Misiak, Robert Horvitz, Dr Kila van der Starre, Prof. Christof Migone and Dr Katarzyna Michalak.
Papers presented during the conference will present radio from a broad historical and cultural perspectives. The conference participants will examine, among other things, the revival of Polish radio broadcasting after 1989, the ways in which radio has been presented in Polish weekly opinion magazines over the past decade, and the history and evolution of radio genres such as interviews, reportage and radio drama. Audio practices in the digital age will also be a key theme, including the differences between linear radio and on-demand podcasts, changing listening habits, and the operation of audio archives as new forms of "radio after time".
Additionaly, the conference programme includes analyses of specific phenomena and case studies. Researchers will discuss topics such as the longest-running poetry show in radio history, the operation of Polish community radio in the United States, local podcasts building listener communities and models for financing community radio, as exemplified by Radio 357. Topics will also include radio art and sonic experiments, contemporary audiofiction ecosystems, the role of radio theatre and artists associated with the Polish Radio Theatre, as well as the role of audio reportage and new forms of audio narrative.
A reflection on the relationship between radio and technology will be a significant part of the conference. Speakers will address issues related to the transition from traditional broadcasting to digital platforms, the transformation of radio semiotics in the world of streaming, and the application of artificial intelligence in the production and distribution of audio content. The programme will also include analyses of independent and community radio in various cultural contexts.
Not only is the conference to summarise a century of radio history in Poland, but it is also an attempt to answer the question of what role radio, and more broadly, audio, will play in the society of the future. Following the event, selected articles are planned to be published in a special issue of the journal "Zagadnienia Genów Literackich" (Issues of Literary Genres) (2027), which will consolidate and expand upon the key themes of the conference discussion.
THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
MONDAY, 11 MAY 2026
The Biedermann's Palace, Franciszkańska 1/5
Plenary session and premiere of the Radio Room installation by Justyna Banaszczyk FOQL
1:00 p.m. Opening of the conference
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Mariusz Woźniczka, Radio Łódź
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Dr Daniel Muzyczuk, Director of the Museum of Art in Łódź
coffee break 2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. Przestrzeń, przemiany i wspólnotowość radia [Space, transformations and community of radio]; host: Kinga Sygizman
Prof. dr hab. Grażyna Stachyra Teleoafektywna struktura teraźniejszości w radiu i streamie on demand [The Teleoaffective Structure of the Present in Radio and Streaming on Demand]
Prof. dr hab. Urszula Doliwa, Dr Magdalena Szydłowska “Myśl lokalnie, działaj globalnie” — o potencjale zakotwiczonego lokalnie podcastingu [“Think Local, Act Global” — On the Potential of Locally Anchored Podcasting]
Dr Katarzyna Michalak Audioserial wobec paradygmatu reportażu dźwiękowego [Audioseries and the paradigm of audio reportage]
Closing ceremony 4:30 p.m.
The Radio Room installation will be available all day.
TUESDAY, 12 MAY 2026
Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Pomorska 171/173
8:45 a.m., Assembly Hall A1
Opening of the conference: Prof. Monika Worsowicz, Head of the Department of Journalism and Social Communication
Sectional meetings: room 2.23
9:00 a.m. Radio między historią a pamięcią; chair: Joanna Bachura-Wojtasik
Prof. dr hab. Violetta Wejs-Milewska Archiwum audialne jako fenomen współczesnego wariantu radia
Dr Monika Makowska „Codziennie usłyszymy (...) polski śpiew, polską muzykę!”. Fryderyk Chopin i Karol Szymanowski na falach Polskiego Radia w XX-leciu międzywojennym
Dr Joanna Walewska-Choptiany Relacje z procesów pokazowych jako teksty kultury popularnej. Przypadek Wandy Odolskiej
mgr inż. Arkadiusz Miller Od radiowęzła do platform cyfrowych: rozwój technologiczny Polskiego Radia Kielce na tle przemian systemu medialnego
coffee break 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
11:30 Radio jako scena [Radio as a stage]; chair: Violetta Wejs-Milewska
Dr Janusz Łastowiecki Ścieżki, tropy i źródła. Droga Darka Błaszczyka w Teatrze Polskiego Radia
Dr Aneta Wójciszyn-Wasil Nie tylko w eterze. Formy realizacji tematyki literackiej w podcastach
mgr Daria Kondraciuk Opera radiowa — poetyka gatunku na przykładzie „Przygód Sindbada Żeglarza” Tomasza Sikorskiego
lunch break 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
TUESDAY, 12 MAY 2026
Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Pomorska 171/173 | sectional meetings: room 2.23
2:00 p.m. Radio Poetics in Action; chair: Natalia Kowalska-Elkader (ENG)
Dr Kila van der Starre A Media-Specific Analysis of Candlelight Poetry on the Radio. The World’s Longest-running Radio Poetry Show
Prof. Christof Migone Radio Naked (Radio is dead, long live radio)
mgr Fabiana Gibim Deja Vudu: Fugitive Frequencies and Nocturnal Transmission
coffee break 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m. Obrazy i praktyki radia poza eterem; chair: Zofia Nacewska
dr hab. Agnieszka Dytman-Stasieńko Radio w telewizji – podziemne radio Solidarność lat 80. XX wieku
Dr Magdalena Żmijkowska Obraz polskiej radiofonii na łamach polskich tygodników opinii „Newsweek”, „Polityka”, „Sieci” w latach 2015-2025
mgr Piotr Bukański Sztuczna inteligencja w radiu. Możliwości i przykłady zastosowań AI
mgr Paulina Zwolińska-Pieniążek Ewolucja wywiadu radiowego w Polskim Radiu
TUESDAY, 12 MAY 2026
Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Pomorska 171/173 | sectional meetings: Assembly Hall A1
9:00 a.m. Radio After Transitions; chair: Eliza Matusiak (ENG)
Robert Horvitz Polish Radio Re-born After Communism
Dr Marija Maglov Disourses on Radio Art in Radio Belgrade
Dr Ákos Windhager Building Communities from Ultra-Minorities: Charismatic Leadership, Cultural Resistance, and Public Service Radio in the Digital Age
lic. Leon Jachimiak (In)visible Journalists? Radio SoVo from the Perspective of Media and Accessibility Studies
coffee break 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
11:30 a.m. Radio Drama Across Platforms; chair: Marija Maglov (ENG)
Dr Eliza Matusiak From Airwaves to Platforms: Radio Drama in the Context of New Technologies and Listening Practices
mgr Wirginia Wywiał From Metaphor to Keyword: Framing Pragmatics and Keyword Politics in Radio Drama Descriptions on Digital Platforms
mgr Michał Pokrowiecki Audio Series or Audio Drama? – Differences between contemporary Polish and anglophone audio fiction ecosystems and their facilitation of listener cultures
lunch break 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
TUESDAY, 12 MAY
Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Pomorska 171/173
sectional meetings: Assembly Hall A1
2:00 p.m. Radio między technologią a społecznością; chair: Aneta Wójciszyn-Wasil
dr hab. Krzysztof Kaszewski Lokalność w nazwach stacji radiowych i tytułach audycji
dr hab. Patryk Gałuszka, dr Piotr Chmielewski Radio społecznościowe czy radio finansowane przez społeczność? Przypadek Radia 357
dr Barbara Leja Polonijne radio jako przestrzeń wspólnoty etnicznej w amerykańskim eterze
coffee break 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m. Praktyki słuchania, praktyki opowiadania; chair: Paulina Czarnek-Wnuk
dr hab. Tomasz Misiak Radio głębokiego słuchania. Studium przypadku „Mikrofonu w Puszczy Zielonce”
Dr Kinga Sygizman Nowa (?) szczerość w reportażu audialnym
Dr Monika Białek Reportaż radiowy w mediach i komunikacji społecznej
Dr Katarzyna Szklarek-Zarębska Współpraca duetu reżysersko-autorskiego Waldemar Modestowicz-Marta Rebzda na przykładzie słuchowisk „Do gwiazd”, „Pozwól, że Ci opowiem” oraz „To słowo”
DOWNLOADABLE PROGRAM IN PDF VERSION (in Polish)
DOWNLOADABLE PROGRAM IN WORD (in Polish)
The event is open in nature and free.
Feel free to join us!
