It’s been around since 1792. And it’s the oldest continuously-published periodical in North America. But the 2020 edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac is all about what’s new. It’s traditionally had information about the U.S. weather outlook, astronomy, gardening, and cooking. The latest edition will have information about the latest farming technology. Examples include the use of drones in farming, monitoring devices for cattle powered by their body heat, and facial recognition technology to monitor what cows consume.
Paul Ladd interviews Almanac editor Janice Stillman about the details of the 2020 edition. The interviews will run for four consecutive Tuesdays, starting December 10, with yet-to-be-determined encore presentations in December or January.
The Pacific Rim and Southwest Asia
The Pacific Rim, the Indian subcontinent and southwest Asia provide the reasons Your New Life Station broadcasts the International English Hour. The Pacific Rim is that part of the Eastern Hemisphere that encompasses English-prevalent countries of the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand. Additionally—English is widely spoken in Indonesia. And English is the official language of government and commerce in the southwest Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In Japan and countries of the Middle East, many speak English as a second language.
Your New Life Station’s broadcast schedule makes use of Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), a 24-hour system also known as Greenwich Mean Time. Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behind UTC; Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind. When some parts of the world return to daylight saving time for the warm weather months, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is four hours behind UTC, and Central Daylight Time (CDT) is five hours behind. Outside the U.S.—most locations are on standard time all year rather than daylight time. Karachi is five hours ahead of UTC. Mumbai and New Delhi are five-and-a-half hours ahead. Manila, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lampur are eight hours ahead. And Tokyo is nine hours ahead of UTC.
You can use our listener website www.knls.org to hear the English Hour if you’re not into shortwave radio. You can also access the broadcast through the KNLS app on your mobile device or through Google or Safari. If you listen via shortwave radio, you can access knls.org to get our broadcast frequencies.
The English Hour is the Asian continent’s source for the music of our time and the message of all time. We work to provide a geographical balance in the topics we feature as we take listeners from “Alaska to Asia to Africa to America.” Our Eye on the World stories often show the interdependence of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Since our target audience is mostly non-Christians, our content is different from a typical Christian format station in America. While we provide our share of positive, uplifting content, some of our programming also provides an honest look at the dark side of life on Earth. Indeed, some program segments and music selections may raise questions that a thoughtful truth seeker will ask. And other segments, such as the Bible or Christian lifestyle lessons, serve to answer those questions.
Music to Love
Music is a universal language. Probably 80 per cent of the world’s pop tunes are sung in English, and are enjoyed by people everywhere, many who are themselves not proficient in English. The English hour features your favorite songs of the 80’s, 90’s, and today. International pop charts show that your favorite music is also the favorite of people who are culturally diverse—whether in Nairobi, Sydney, Singapore, or Jakarta.
The songs are pop, rock, r & b, and occasional hip-hop and country music that crosses over to the pop charts. The English Hour generally features music by artists from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. But music artists from all over the world have found their names on or near the top of international pop charts.
In December, Your New Life Station’s listeners will hear new music from Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and BTS featuring Lauv. From December 7 through Christmas Day, the playlist will include a selection of holiday season favorites, including a new one from the Jonas Brothers. All music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be of the holiday variety.
News to Know
The English hour features reports about topics of current interest. Marcy Bryan reports about entertainment, business, and news about religion and social issues. Kelly Ann Monahan has the latest developments in medicine, science, and computer technology. Paul Ladd provides special reports about diverse topics, religious and secular. Doug Poling provides commentary on the news from a Christian perspective on Today’s News & the Good News. And Bob Waliszewski of Focus on the Family provides Plugged-in reviews of the latest movies, music, and computer games.
In December—Bob will rate, for family friendliness, the movies Last Christmas, Ford V Ferrari, and Frozen II. and the songs “Don’t Start Now,“ by Dua Lipa, Jesus Is King,” by Kanye West, “Someone You Loved,” by Lewis Capaldi, and “Lose You to Love Me,” by Selena Gomez.
Upcoming Reports for December 2019:
- He’s India’s 25-year-old hotel billionaire. Ritesh Agarwal is expanding his mid-priced hotels outside of India. Marcy Bryan reports.
- They’re a great source of protein. And they consume a fraction of the water required for cattle farming. Marcy reports about the many varieties of edible bugs.
- And Marcy reports about the commercial success of music festivals—as this year marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock.
- Did the Viking space probe discover life on Mars in 1976? Kelly Ann Monahan reports on the controversy.
- Internet searches about Jesus and the Bible increased significantly after Kanye West released his Jesus Is King album. Kelly Ann reports about that, too.
And Kelly Ann reports on study about the link between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. - A 97-year-old went missing. And four of the town’s children went into action. Doug Poling has the story.
- And Doug remembers Nigeria’s 344-year-old tortoise that died recently.
A Message to Live
This is what we’re about and why we’re on the air and on the internet. Our mission is to present the lessons of the Bible, including and emphasizing the Good News in an interesting, non-threatening way.
Ongoing Series
- Andy Baker’s Prayer Lesson
- Believer’s Hall of Faith with Bill Young
- Bible Archaeology, Proofs from the Earth with Bill Humble
Creation Moments with Paul Taylor - Family Minute with Brit Ryan
- First Person with Paul Ladd
- God’s Money with Don White
- God’s Passion for Humanity with Bill Young
- Groundwire with Sean Dunn
- Hope in Conflict with Larry Souder
- Immersed in Life with Greg Taylor
- Jim Daly commentary
- Life Stories with Joe Norris
- Living with Conflict with Greg Taylor
- Paradoxes with Bill Steensland
- Profiles of the New Testament with Bob Borquez
- Profiles of the Old Testament with Royce Kessler
- Promises with Royce Kessler
- Questions that Deserve Answers with Larry Souder
- Refiner’s Fire with Paul Ladd
- The Big Picture with Steve Diggs
- The God Who Makes Himself Known with Bill Young
- The Good Book with Greg Taylor
- The Journey with Greg Taylor
- Today’s News & the Good News with Doug Poling
- True Stories of the Bible with Bill Steensland
- Unforgettable Conversations with Larry Souder
