Q&A
What the Hell Is Rolling with Scissors?

Rolling with Scissors is a long-running late-night radio show that has spent nearly three decades politely ignoring how radio is “supposed” to work.

It’s not a playlist.

It’s not a countdown.

It’s not here to impress an algorithm or gently hold your hand.

The show airs weekly on WORT Community Radio and has been doing its thing since the mid-1990s—long enough to outlive multiple formats, trends, technologies, and at least a few bad ideas that seemed good at the time. It survives because it’s built on curiosity instead of hype.

At its core, Rolling with Scissors is about context.

Sometimes that means deep dives: full albums played front to back, multi-hour explorations of an artist’s catalog, or carefully constructed thematic sets that assume the listener is paying attention and not just waiting for the chorus. Other nights it means trusting instinct, pulling a thread, and seeing where the music ends up without a safety net.

You might hear punk bleed into jazz.

Electronic dissolve into folk.

A full album followed by something that makes no sense until it suddenly does.

Long songs stay long. Silence is allowed. Albums are treated like albums instead of obstacles.

Now about the website—because that part matters too.

The blog started as a natural extension of the show. If you’re putting together a three-hour radio program, it helps to explain what the hell you’re doing. Who is this artist? Why this album? Why now? That’s where the blog comes in.

But it didn’t stop there.

Because once you start writing, other things tend to escape.

So yes, the blog includes episode notes, music history, deep-dive context, and the occasional correction when I realize I can’t count. It also includes whatever else decides to wander out of my head at 2 a.m.—cultural commentary, media rants, observations about technology, skepticism about authority, reflections on art, and sometimes complete, unapologetic nonsense.

Some posts are thoughtful.

Some are angry.

Some are funny.

Some are “why did you even write this?”

All of them are honest.

The blog exists because radio doesn’t happen in a vacuum anymore, and because pretending otherwise would be ridiculous. Think of it as liner notes for a medium that never really had any—and sometimes a place to yell at clouds when necessary.

Episodes stream live and then live on the site for a limited time due to licensing restrictions. The writing sticks around longer, mostly because words don’t require reporting to anyone.

If you’re looking for background noise, this probably isn’t your show.

If you’re looking for something curated by a machine, you’re definitely in the wrong place.

If you like music with context, radio made by an actual human, and a blog that occasionally goes off the rails on purpose—welcome.

That’s Rolling with Scissors.

It’s been rolling a long time.

The scissors are still sharp.

How do I listen to this program?

There are several different ways.

Rolling with scissors is Broadcast on WORT Community Radio, 89.9 FM in Madison Wisconsin.

The over the air broadcast can be heard between the hours of 2 AM and 5 AM Tuesday morning central standard time.

WORT also streams the program on their website.

Each episode of the program on WORT’s archive for two weeks following the over the air broadcast.

We also make each program available on this website. Click on Recent Episodes. On the menu bar.

 

How did this program get started?

That’s a really long story. You can find out more here.

Where is the program produced?

Rolling with Scissors is recorded and produced at Padded Cell Studios, a division of Osmond Technologies LLC.

We intentionally do not publish a physical street address. That’s not secrecy for secrecy’s sake — it’s experience. Between overreaching government curiosity, wildly unhinged fans who confuse radio with access, and one particularly stupid third-party company that tried to shake us down over a tribute show for Ozzy Osbourne using a publicly available photo, we decided long ago that an address on the internet is more trouble than it’s worth.

We love passionate listeners. We even love rabid fans — the good kind. But the internet has taught us that boundaries matter, and microphones don’t require a map.

If you have production questions, collaboration ideas, or general inquiries that don’t involve process servers or extortion attempts:

Email us here

Or call/text: 608-446-1311

How do I get my music on an episode of Rolling With Scissors?

Got something that deserves to be heard? Whether it’s your band, a solo project, or spoken word—you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s how to get your work considered for broadcast:

  • Email us here to get started. Please don’t send Spotify links—we can’t use those for broadcast.

  • Be sure to include:

    • The correct spelling of the artist name, track title, and album title

    • Whether you’re on a record label (and if so, which one)

    • Audio files or a download link—we can handle pretty much any format

This isn’t some gatekept media machine. If it fits the vibe and the quality’s solid, we’ll find a way to make it work.

So You Wanna Join the Chaos?

Rolling with Scissors started as a community radio show—and at its core, that’s still what it is: completely volunteer-powered. The folks you see on our Staff page aren’t doing this for money or fame. We’re here because we love media, music, and giving a big middle finger to the sanitized, corporate version of both.

If you’ve got an idea, a segment, a voice, or something weird and wonderful you think belongs on Rolling with Scissors—this is your invitation to reach out. Whether it’s commentary, storytelling, obscure soundscapes, or a perspective no one else is broadcasting, we want to hear it.

This isn’t just a show. It’s a transmitter for the unfiltered and the unheard.

Important: If you’re looking to get your music on an episode, scroll down and click on “How do I get my music on an episode of Rolling with Scissors?” That has everything you need.

For everything else, the best way to contact us is by emailing here.

How big is the Rolling With Scissors Audio Library?

Our library is forever expanding, but at the time of this QA 08/23/2024

2974 Artists 4078 Albums.

Why Can’t I Listen to Past Episodes After Two Weeks?

We get this question a lot — and trust us, we wish we could leave every episode online forever. Unfortunately, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has something to say about that.

Because Rolling with Scissors features full-length songs — sometimes entire albums — we follow the same rules that apply to all U.S. radio stations offering online archives. Under DMCA regulations, any episode containing copyrighted music can only be made available for on-demand streaming for up to 14 days after it airs. After that, the episode must be removed or replaced.

That’s why you’ll always see two episodes on our site at any given time:

  • The most recent one, and

  • The previous one still within its 14-day window.

When a new episode goes live, the oldest one is taken down — it’s how we stay compliant and keep the music flowing.

You can always stream the latest show right on the homepage or in the Episode Notes section of the blog. Both rwsradio.com and WORT’s Archive offer access to episodes for two weeks after they air.

Add Rolling with scissors to your smartphone/tablet home screen

iPhone or iPad

  1. Open Safari. Other browsers, such as Chrome, won’t work for this
  2. Navigate to the website you want to save to your home screen by entering the URL of the website you want to create a shortcut to. Make sure you visit the exact page you want to open through the shortcut. Tap “Go.”
  3. Tap the Share button on the bottom of the page. It looks like a square with an arrow pointing out of the top
  4. In the list of options that appear, scroll down until you see Add to Home Screen. Tap this. The Add to Home Screen dialog box will appear
  5. Choose a name for the website shortcut on your home screen. You’ll see the link so you can confirm it, as well as the site’s favicon that will appear as the “app” icon on your home screen. Click Add when you’re done. Safari will close automatically and you will be taken to where the icon is located on your iPhone’s or iPad’s home screen
  6. Now just tap the new “app” or shortcut on your home screen, and it will open the website in its own navigation window, independent of what you have open in Safari

 

Android

  1. Open Chrome
  2. Navigate to the website or web page you want to pin to your home screen
  3. Tap the menu icon (3 dots in the upper right-hand corner) and tap Add to home screen
  4. Choose a name for the website shortcut, then Chrome will add it to your home screen