In the span of about 10 minutes this morning,
I listened to a dancehall remix of Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s “All the Way Up” on Kingston’s Zip FM, some smooth jazz and new age guitar music on NRP radio in Lisbon, Madonna’s “Sorry” on Madrid’s Kiss FM, Toto’s “Georgy Porgy” on Gay Moscow Radio, a Christian church service broadcast from Kampala, some news talk radio in Colorado, a man singing a sweet falsetto line in a language I didn’t recognize on Bangui’s Radio Ndeke Luka, and “Black Beatles,” SPIN’s favorite song of 2016, on Hot 108 Jamz in New York City. I did it all from the comfort of my browser, thanks to an extremely cool new web app called Radio Garden.
Radio Garden, which blew up when its creators posted it on Reddit earlier this week, allows you to explore live internet streams of radio stations across the world by navigating a Google Earth-style globe interface. If you don’t like the song you’re hearing, or you land on a commercial, just give the globe a spin and see what you land on next.
The app was designed and produced by Studio Puckey and Studio Moniker, two Dutch creative shops, in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. In addition to the live streaming feature, it also lets you listen to historical radio broadcasts and a selection of jingles and station identifiers from around the world. Try Radio Garden for yourself here.