Dr. Heather Anderson's TedX Talk is Now Live!
A couple months back, Dr. Heather Anderson was a speaker at the TEDxBrisbane. Her talk, "Why Minority Ideas Change The World" explored the power of community radio to promote social justice. The talk has now been published and is available to watch!
As a long time Zed volunteer, community media scholar and journalist whose work examines how alternative media creates spaces for voices excluded in mainstream narratives. It was such an insightful and inspiring talk!
The first few days of interaction with the video have an impact on the future visibility of the TEDX video of Heather's speech, so if you have a spare second, we highly recommend giving it a listen.
Dr Heather Anderson's People Powered Radio Shortlisted For Queensland Literary Award
Dr. Heather Anderson's book, People Powered Radio, has been shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards Lord Mayor's People's Choice Award!
People Powered Radio captures the oral and archival histories of 4ZZZ, taking you through the station's subversive roots in the 1970s to its present day digital renaissance. The rich and deeply researched book documents the lasting contributions that 4ZZZ has made to promoting independent music, producing alternative news and fostering community.
This achievement is a real testament to the love, passion and hard work that Heather put into the book. Heather is one of 4ZZZ's longest volunteers and the book provides an insider’s perspective on what happens when people build something together and refuse to let it go.
This is judged on voting alone and there is a substantial cash prize, half of which will be donated to 4ZZZ for a specific project. Voting closes Sept 10 so get onto it!
400 Episodes of Balkan Beats!
Balkan Beats hosted by Billie Letic has just celebrated 400 episodes of the show! The program, airing Saturday nights 8-9PM, celebrates Eastern European bands from the Balkans and Southeast Europe. It’s an hour of dancing and fun!
The first episode of Balkan Beats aired December 1, 2018 and Billie has never missed an episode or had a repeat episode! It’s a huge testament to the dedication, love and passion that Billie invests into the program.
So many people across the world tune in for the program, and we’re so honoured to have it on our Zed Digital channel.
Blair Martin Celebrates One Decade as Zed Digital Coordinator!
Blair Martin, who you may have heard across the airwaves as longtime host and coordinator of Queer Radio, has just celebrated a decade as 4ZZZ's Zed Digital Coordinator!
It takes so much time, effort and commitment to make sure that the Zed Digital channel remains populated with shows that you know and love. It's all thanks to Blair's dedication behind-the-scenes.
Blair has been a point of contact and support for many volunteers and announcers within 4ZZZ, making sure they feel confident and comfortable to share their story, niche interest and passion with others.
Here are some words from Blair Martin:
"It has been one of my greatest joys to expand this under-utilised platform into a model that other Community Broadcasting Association of Australia community radio stations in Australia have admired and sought to emulate.
I'm grateful to all content creators, both past and present, inside Zed and from outside for making it necessary for my role to exist. It's a passion that hasn't yet died."
It’s because of people like Blair that 4ZZZ is a place of culture, entertainment and stories. A massive thank you to Blair from the 4ZZZ community!
4ZZZ Feature Article by Volunteering Queensland
At the beginning of this year, 4ZZZ became a member of Volunteer Queensland. We’re so proud to be a member of the organisation, particularly since the love and passion of volunteers is what keeps the 4ZZZ airwaves going.
Thank you so much to Volunteer Queensland and Lucy Stokes for the feature article on 4ZZZ!
It’s a beautiful read and includes interviews with some of our volunteers including Heather Anderson, Georgia Manthey and Ben Ryan.
Here are some quotes from the article if you want to go and have a closer read...
“Community radio is where identities are represented,” Anderson says. “It’s one of the few places where people can truly represent themselves, where communities that are often filtered out of mainstream media can tell their own stories in their own words.”
“At any stage of life, community radio offers a place where your contribution matters. The station’s volunteer base spans generations and backgrounds with students gaining their first experience in media, career changers discovering new directions, retirees finally pursuing something they’d set aside.”
4ZZZ 2026 Open House was a blast!
Thank you to everyone that came through for Open House on Saturday! It was such a busy day with nearly 200 people trek-ing down to the station.
It is always one of our favourite days of the year to see people wonder into the 4ZZZ Studios for the first time and discover the passion, love and community here at 4ZZZ.
A massive shoutout and thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who gave tours, answered questions and helped make the day happen.
If you missed out but would love to see the station, click here and sign up for an induction to volunteer!
Our beautiful 4ZZZ NAIDOC 2026: 50 Years of Deadly Carpark Gig!
4ZZZ NAIDOC 2026: 50 Years of Deadly Carpark Gig was a beautiful round off to the week long NAIDOC celebrations!
Arianna opened the day with amazing acoustic singer-songwriter tracks, including a great Fleetwood Mac cover. It was followed by J4ZHEN, who rapped and played bass at the same time, managing to work in a Jimi Hendrix cover too! Lastly, was Bala Rontu who brought the hip-hop and reggae energy to round off the day!
Kihi had some great interviews with both Arianna and Jah, fellow host of Indigi-Briz and performer at the gig. Listen back to Indigi-Briz if you missed it here if you missed it!
4ZZZ NAIDOC 2026: 50 Years Of Deadly was supported by Goolwal Goolwal - BIGSOUND. Thank you so much for their support.
Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us and happy 50 Years of Deadly!
This event will took place on the unceded lands of the Turrbal, Jagera and Ugarapul people. Always Was, Always Will Be.
Kihi, Jimmy and Tabatha at NAIDOC the 4077 Way: 50 Years of Deadly Celebration
Did you catch Kihi, Jimmy and Tabatha out at NAIDOC the 4077 Way Inala Family Fun Day on Wednesday? They ran a 4ZZZ stall chatting all about 4ZZZ, how to get involved and submit music. Plus, the hit of the day was the drum machine so people attending the celebration could come by the stall and have a go making their own music.
The Family Fun Day was a celebration of culture, community, connection and 50 Years of NAIDOC. It was such a special event with cultural performances, amusement rides, and various community stalls.
If you missed Kihi, Jimmy and Tabatha at the event, be sure to listen into Soul-Jah Sistars (Saturdays 1-2PM), Indigi-Briz (Saturdays 4-6PM) and Culture Vultures (Monday 9-10am).
Soul-Jah Sistars and Exit Stage Zed Outside Broadcast from the Winter Solstice Festival
On Saturday from 1-4pm, Tabatha, Domenico, Brody, Daria and Kirstyn of Soul-Jah Sistars and Exit Stage Zed did an outside broadcast from Northey Street Winter Solstice Festival. What a dream crossover!
They broadcast some amazing 4ZZZ tunes at the festival, had a yarn, and brought artists onto the airwaves for interviews.
If you missed out on hearing the outside broadcast, listen back here to get some of that magical Winter Solstice spirit.
Monthly Subscriber Prize | $200 Voucher from Garage Sounds
If you subscribe in the month of July, you go in the draw to win a $200 voucher from Garage Sounds!
The voucher can be redeemed for anything instore, including vinyl records, CDs, cassette tapes, books, DVDs, merch and heaps more!
Garage Sounds is a proud 4ZZZ Subscriber Discount Outlet, which is run by Triple Zed stalwart, Riff Randall, who is passionate about tangible forms of alternative local, Aussie and International music - which is not a rip off!
Garage Sounds is located at Upper Mount Gravatt, near Garden City, and also has regular market stalls around South East Queensland, including the monthly Brisbane Record Fair.
