J-Basics Investigative Audio Pieces

It’s hard to believe big-name artists like Kendrick Lamar, Sza, Lizzo, and Chance the Rapper
have all performed at Oberlin. What makes Oberlin special, and how do student bookers select
the artists who come? Are certain genres prioritized, and how do student performers feel about
Oberlin as their school and stage?

Two Oberlin students look into the administration's attitude towards unionized labor and how it has developed over the last five years.

Oberlin students Ben Logan and Stevin Wallace, investigate Oberlin's abrupt change in Okta Verify’s time frame, from weekly to only 10 hours. Through conversations with faculty they discover exactly what caused Oberlin's CIT department to make this change.

Is it not natural for a college or university campus to change over the years, and for multiple graduating classes to have differing experiences of what their time was like at the same institution? It is, but a wide range of our student body here at Oberlin College has a problem with just how fast our campus spaces are changing.

Oberlin’s administration launched a “Year of AI Exploration Initiative” at the beginning of the Fall 2025 semester, and the contradictions in its proposal, philosophy, and implementation raise questions about its true motivations and goals. This episode asks and answers the question, “what is this program doing to fulfill student needs?” With insight from leaders within the initiative and members of the environmental studies program, we uncover the real role and reception of AI at Oberlin.

The decision to move the Oberlin College bookstore was met with great opposition from the students as it would be taking space away from Azariah’s, also known as Azzie’s, an incredibly popular spot for students after the announcement. A sit-in was led by Oberlin chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, with many believing that the change promoted a bigger conversation of the dwindling of communal spaces within the school.