The life of a radio nerd:

As a Media and Communications and Film Studies double major Jacob Borislow ‘19 was happy to share his love for his own show Jet Set Radio, which airs on Muhlenberg’s radio station, WMUH, on Wednesday evenings from 4 p.m. -6 p.m.

Borislow has been a radio DJ since his first semester of college after signing up for WMUH at the fall activities fair.

“[I signed up for WMUH] on a whim and said that this could be cool. All the people and being able to play my own music is what kept me there,” said Borislow.  

The title of his show — Jet Set Radio — was named after a video game that he likes, which plays electronic music. His show consists of a variety of music genres, including: broadway music, classic rock, and electronic music. He derived the concept for his show with inspiration from his father, who is a fan of two out of the three music genres he presents on his show: classical rock and electronic. Borislow added broadway to the mix as he, himself, is a big fan of musicals.

Borislow’s favorite musical is Phantom of the Opera, however, his favorite Broadway song is “’Til’ I Hear You Sing” from its sequel Love Never Dies. His favorite band is Boston and his favorite song is Hoppípolla by Sigur Rós.

To prepare for each show, Jacob sets time aside the night before to search for new music to use; he then makes an iTunes playlist for the songs, which automatically link to his DJ software, and then he plays the songs the next day. The entire preparation process takes about two to three hours.

During each show, besides playing music, Jacob talks to his listeners or plays a PSA every 15 minutes. He talks about the block of songs that were just played and sometimes even shares with his listeners some campus news.

Sometimes he brings some of his friends to come and listen to his show and while music is playing, Borislow takes the opportunity to do homework.

“[DJs] can hear the music so it’s just like having a giant chill session with yourself,” said Borislow.

Besides being a DJ for college radio, Borislow has also been a member of WMUH’s executive board since his sophomore year. Borislow was appointed as training director his sophomore year and he would not only train new DJs, but he would also audition them and be the first person new DJs meet. During junior year he was appointed the position of concert coordinator and has the responsibility to make sure campus concert events go as planned and helps where needed and he continues to have the position of concert coordinator, now as a senior.

Throughout his undergrad, Borislow has been involved with a variety of other campus activities as well as radio. He is the presidential advisor for Comic Club, a member of Anime Club, a participant of Hillel as well as a ZBT brother.

Borislow loves playing video games and loves movies. He also has a strong interest in Japanese culture.

“I am a Japanophile,” Borislow coined.

His favorite video game is Life is Strange, which is a story game and involves making decisions. With this statement, Borislow humorously concluded, “I’m just a general nerd.”

Borislow is also a huge fan of Disney. He loves learning the history of Walt Disney and about his life and also loves watching old Disney cartoons.

“I am a sucker for old cartoons,” shared Borislow.  Although Borislow does not know what his plans are after he graduates, he has been desiring to teach English in Japan since he visited the country on a MILA trip.

Borislow also has a strong passion for reading. His favorite authors are Neil Gaiman and Stephen King. He particularly loves Gaiman’s American Gods and King’s Misery.

“Anything by these two you can’t go wrong with. [Their books] are works of art,” said Borislow.

Borislow has had a fun time being a DJ at WMUH and he said that the people have been a delight to work with.

“I am going to miss doing radio and I encourage everyone to do it,” said Borislow, “it’s some work, but it is also a lot of fun.”