“There are people who sponsor us because they don’t want to tell us what to do. They like the fact that we’re going to ignore them, that we’re even going to alienate them at times. It’s really great when listeners say, “I’m going to contribute to WFMU because you annoy me at times.” Because in a world where things like [Spotify’s AI DJ] just feed you what you already have and things that sound just like what you already have, yeah, it’s great to have surprises. It’s great to have mystery, it’s … human to hear people screw up on the air, to miscue records. But then sometimes you get this alchemy.”
— Gaylord Fields on the inimitable humanity of freeform radio.