The Slice: The airwaves will never be the same

Perhaps you saw the announcement.

The Spokesman-Review is going on the air. Some of the details still need to be worked out. But providing news and public affairs programming for a group of Spokane radio stations will be the initial thrust.

“We are delighted,” said a spokesman for the stations.

“We’re excited,” said a spokesman for the newspaper.

Maybe this is just the beginning. Perhaps these newspaper-produced segments will be such a hit that soon the stations will clamor for more programming ideas from the newspaper.

Well, there’s no time like the present to stuff something into the suggestion box.

Here goes.

The Rest of the Story: A rotating panel of veteran reporters recall inspiring/infuriating interviews. Regular features: “Dumbest question I ever asked” and “Liar of the week.”

The Corrections Hour: Managing editor Gary Graham talks about the stupidest mistakes that ever got into print and describes various ways reporters tried to weasel out of writing corrections or blame sources for screw-ups.

Doug Floyd’s Dance Party: The editor of the S-R’s editorial page spins the hits, previews the University of Oregon football season and fondly recalls phone calls he received from political candidates the newspaper did not endorse.

Profiles in Courage: People who have written nasty anonymous letters to the newspaper are encouraged to call in and visit on-air with a trained therapist.

Big Band Bonanza: Aging print reporters play recorded swing classics and wax nostalgic about the bygone fedoras-and-flasks era of newspapering that, in truth, predated all of them by several decades.

Cowles Country: S-R staffers who enjoy country music defend the often-maligned art form. Week 1: How come country singers get called lunkheads for using poor grammar in lyrics but the Beatles got a pass when employing the “She don’t” construction? (“Ticket to Ride,” “She’s a Woman.”)

Darn That Parking Garage: Weekly conspiracy theories roundtable. (Will be recorded once and then rebroadcast over and over and over.)

The John Blanchette Hour: The longtime S-R sports columnist plays some of his favorite vinyl-era oldies, strums the banjo and takes calls from sports fans and angry bloggers who wish they had his job.

Let’s Move On: Slice columnist Paul Turner proves that his short-lived college radio show was not, in fact, the worst program in radio history.

A Thousand Words: S-R photographers sample various wines, tell jokes and discuss their favorite pictures.

The Night Side: Copy editors and page designers trade stories about egotistical reporters who threw volcanic tantrums over changes made to their sacred prose. And each week one copy editor will describe his or her secret tactic for actually staying awake while reading the latest from columnists who, by the way, have never once said “thanks” for catching potentially embarrassing mistakes.

Lorie Hutson’s Food Fight: The S-R culinary maven takes on topics such as cooking for company when your guests have 16 different dietary restrictions.

Movies That Will Never Come Here: Dan Webster reports.

The Locker Room: Host Steve Bergum quizzes fellow sports writers about the most amazing things they’ve observed behind the scenes. Parental discretion advised.

Caught in the Web: Staffers with www.spokesmanreview.com take calls and remind listeners that print, radio and TV are dead.

“Today’s Slice questions: Would you replace GEG as the airport code? With what?