With the help of a recent grant, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock associate professor’s Arts & Letters radio broadcast will continue to entertain and inform Arkansas audiences.

Now in its third year, Arts & Letters, an innovative celebration of the humanities in Arkansas, recently garnered a $9,000 grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council to fund another year of programming.

Each 30-minute episode is packed with interviews, dramatizations, and original music, all tailored to a unique theme, ranging from local civil rights battles to the Arkansas alligator gar.

Dr. J. Bradley Minnick, a UALR associate professor of English, is the creator, project director, host, and scriptwriter for the series, which airs on KUAR as well as online as a podcast.

KUAR’s Chris Hickey serves as the show’s sound engineer and associate producer; Shannon Lausch of the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture provides archival materials for various shows.

This is the second consecutive year the council has sponsored Arts & Letters.

Minnick describes the show as “kaleidoscopic,” meaning that it weaves together a variety of aural elements to create a cohesive scene.

The producers use sound bites, interview clips, acting, music, and more to immerse the listener in a certain moment, whether it be 13th century Italy or a 1980s living room.

As they create this experience, Arts & Letters team members also work to design a show that is engaging and appropriate for listeners of all ages.

The program fills a major gap in current podcast offerings — few other shows pay adequate attention to the arts in the South, Minnick said.

“If you look at a lot of the podcasts that are on now, they often highlight the intellectual work in the Northeast — New York, Boston,” Minnick explains. “And I really wanted to highlight the intellectual and cultural work that was being done in the South.”

While they certainly feature UALR scholars and projects, Minnick and his collaborators are intentional about seeking stories from both within and outside the UALR community.

“I think it’s really important that the folks in Little Rock have a sense of the neat stuff that’s happening not only at this university but regionally and at other universities in the area,” Minnick said.

Listeners can access episodes of Arts & Letters on the show’s website.

Pictured in the upper right: Dr. J. Bradley Minnick