“This is a weird gathering.” That’s what Gang Badoy said upon realizing that she had Renato Reyes, Dante Lagman, Ricky Carandang, Jun Sabayton and Lourd de Veyra in her living room. This was right after RockEd Radio’s second episode at our new home in Jam88.3. The episode was typical of how Gang and Lourd has ran the show for the past four years—just getting the best people to talk on the subject regardless of whatever their affiliations or maybe even good sense. For this one, they managed to get two representatives of opposing leftist factions to sit down and just talk. Then, Ricky walks in just to join and hang out. This is what listeners of the show keep tuning in every week for: to hear conversations between people who you wouldn’t imagine to be in the same room together—and to join in.

That evening, even if we didn’t share each other’s politics, we did share stories, opinions and even jokes. That’s important these days—to be able to talk and listen to each other at a time when all our information is mediated through circuitry. It’s much easier to demonize or stereotype others whenever it’s just an avatar (and—apologies to Ricky—news anchors) that does all the talking. The aim is not to get everyone to agree—far from it.

This is what RockEd Radio has fostered all these years: an environment to have weird gatherings and see what happens.

Stay tuned.

- Erwin Romulo