Tune in to 90.9 FM every weekday from 6 to 7 p.m. and the steady, curious voice of Lara Jones and her bill of guests will greet you over the airwaves.

Jones hosts “RadioACTive” — a show that proudly features “grassroots activists, community builders, punk-rock farmers, and DIY makers and musicians” — at KRCL. The Salt Lake City station’s programming focuses entirely on arts, culture and music.

In one year, Jones estimates that her show has 900 guests. In August alone, she featured the new president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, had a show dedicated to National Senior Citizens Day and highlighted Utah Americana band Hectic Hobo.

Her entire show, she said, is about “passing the microphone to folks to share their lived experiences.”

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lara Jones, executive producer and host of “RadioACTive,” on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

But a loss of federal funding threatens this particular segment of KRCL’s programming. The station is set to lose 10% of its annual budget after Congress voted this summer to claw back money from public media.

Two station staffers, who help “RadioActive” deepen its community roots by recruiting guests and putting together show highlights called “RadioACTive Rewinds,” have their salaries funded through federal dollars KRCL has previously received.

The staffers also help as substitute hosts and support for live bands in the studio, according to Gavin Dahl, the station’s executive director.

While no budget cut decisions have been made — and Dahl wants to keep his existing staff intact — the station needs to close a $136,000 funding gap. So far, it has raised over $56,000.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Lara Jones, executive producer and host of “RadioACTive” (top right), on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

To stave off staffing cuts, Dahl has said he would look to slash other expenses, such as professional development opportunities.

Failure to fill the funding gap by year’s end, however, could endanger the staffers’ positions.

The station is banking on its decades of community-driven programming to pave the way for a steady future. KRCL says it has dedicated its existence to serving Utahns, and now it’s looking to Utahns for support.

Community-driven from the beginning

KRCL’s focus on arts and community is embedded in the station’s foundation, according to founder Stephen Holbrook.

Holbrook was involved in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, and was a secretary at the NAACP.

During that period, he said, “it became clear to me that there were lots of things that the main media at the time were not covering; that included music, involvement in the community and minority issues.”

That absence of coverage became the “main driver” for Holbrook to “see what could be done.”

Holbrook said it took him five years to raise the money required by the Federal Communications Commission at the time to get KRCL up and running. Mustering money meant getting help from anyone he could make the case to, including singing cowboy Gene Autry. He even went on a fundraising trip back East with Robert Redford, the founder of the Sundance Film Festival.

By 1979, KRCL hit the airwaves.

The first 20 years of on-air programming at the station was done by volunteers, he said, with individual shows focusing on various minority communities.

“There was one program called ”Handy Capables,” done by a blind woman,” Holbrook said. “We had Braille on the control board so she could operate the control board.”

(Adam Finkle | Salt Lake Magazine) Donna Land Maldonado in 2010.

Holbrook later brought on Donna Land Maldonado, a force in the Utah radio scene who was hired through a grant funded by a federal anti-poverty program. Maldonado, a Northern Ute tribe member, died in 2022.

She would start several programs while at KRCL, including the “Living the Circle of Life,” the only music program in the state dedicated to Indigenous people, and “Concerning Gays and Lesbians,” a show dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community.

Maldonado would later bring on people like Ebay Hamilton, the current host of “The Afternoon Show.“

Now, every Friday on “RadioACTive,” a homegrown band plays live on the show in the station’s community-funded band room. Utah musicians like Little Moon, Lavender Menaces and Talia Keys, and national names like Alabama Shakes and the Indigo Girls have left their sonic footprint on the show.

At KRCL, listeners learn about women who rock with Eugenie Hero Jaffe. They reflect on missed connections with Bianca Velasquez. They experience the world of music with World Village.

Holbrook said this focus on the fabric of Utah gives the station staying power, even in the face of economic hardship.

“As long as KRCL is locally driven,” he said, “local music, groups and people are involved, [then] it will remain viable.”

KRCL fills a ‘niche’

Barb Guy and Chris Rohrer, co-chairs for KRCL’s history committee, are working on a book for the station’s 50th anniversary in 2029.

“Right now,” Guy explained, “we’re interviewing people and writing like crazy.”

The duo is also trying to collect as many historical program guides from the station as possible.

A 1995 guide has a déjà vu moment: a page urging members and listeners to make their voices heard as a complete elimination of government funding for public media was considered. In that case, the cuts didn’t materialize.

Through their research, Guy and Rohrer found the station has always bounced back from challenges. In short, KRCL has shown up for its listeners, and its listeners have shown up for the station.

Many times, that support looks like volunteer hours.

“What we do know is, at least in the first several decades that we have program guides for,” Rohrer said, “the station has always, at any given time, had about 150 volunteers.”

In some cases, KRCL’s listeners join the station in other capacities.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) KRCL DJ Ebay J Hamilton on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

Erik Christiansen, an attorney and member of KRCL’s community advisory board, said his first memory of the station was listening to its punk-rock show on Saturday nights as a college student.

Christiansen said the advisory board gives the station feedback quarterly on how it’s doing, especially when it comes to representing the wider community.

“People want connections,” Christiansen explained. “Everybody craves community. Salt Lake is a pretty big city now, and if people can access a little smaller version of that in some way that’s more meaningful, [that’s] not corporate America … KRCL fills that niche.”

To keep programs like “RadioACTive” humming at full strength, the station hopes its listeners will show up again.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Giants in the Oak Tree play live on KRCL during “RadioACTive”
on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.