On August 7, the last full day of the WERU summer pledge drive, Pepin Mittelhauser was hitting his stride.
Between his on-air hosting duties, where he recognized donors and announced the playlist of his popular radio program Off the Record, Mittelhauser flowed between taking down pledges, crediting underwriters, even answering the office doorbell.
Mittelhauser embodied what outgoing General Manager Matt Murphy later described as the fluency of an experienced DJ (or “programmer” in WERU lingo). Many of the volunteers who gain experience in the studio “can do vinyl, CDs, computer, talk on the phone, have guests come in, you know, make coffee,” said Murphy.
Mittelhauser clearly demonstrated that professional blend. As he kept things going in the studio, the overhead speakers buzzed with the energy of Middle Eastern harmonies and American rock.
This summer’s pledge drive, however, has brought a new groove to the WERU studio, one that has the potential to reshape the station.
For the first time in nearly three decades, the station will have a new general manager. The final day of the pledge drive, Saturday, August 8, marked the official hand-off. The WERU board of directors selected Kristen Spalding of Orland as the next general manager.
At 64, Murphy has led WERU for 27 years. He earlier served the station as a volunteer DJ, board member, and staff member.
Kristen Spalding, 41, grew up in Bucksport, graduated from Colby College, and joined WERU after working in development at Bagaduce Music in Blue Hill. In announcing his retirement, Murphy explicitly described the transition as an opportunity to “pass the torch on to the next generation of leadership.”
In conversation with The Packet on August 7, Spalding and Murphy reflected on the station’s past while looking toward its future.
Since its debut in 1988, WERU has continuously adjusted to the ways that radio is produced and listened to. But to maintain this continuity, WERU has had to strike a balance between embracing new technologies and maintaining the uniquely human quality of its programming.
Across generations of programmers and successive waves of technology, the station has always held the same basic purpose.
“The core has been the same since the beginning,” Murphy said. “It’s about this diversity and about this local connection.”
For Spalding, the station’s identity rests less in its technology than in the people who use it.
“It’s about the volunteers,” she said.
Murphy said WERU currently has about 100 volunteer programmers on air, a number that has remained remarkably consistent throughout the station’s history. Many arrived with no previous radio experience and were trained by the station. Maintaining that volunteer level has also meant ensuring that a new generation is there to carry it forward.
Murphy said WERU began as a station of all ages, but as the internet, streaming, and podcasting took hold, younger programmers gradually disappeared. By the mid-2010s, station events were largely attended by people 50 and older.
WERU made rebuilding its multigenerational character an objective starting in the 2010s. According to Murphy, the initiative challenged the idea that young people had switched from radio to social media. Rather, younger volunteers came seeking the same thing that attracted the station’s founders: a space for creativity and a connection to “real human community,” according to Murphy.
Being multi-generational, however, also involves addressing debates over the evolving technologies that are shaping the industry. The growing ubiquity of artificial intelligence is causing radio stations all around the world to debate how to respond.
The age difference between listeners complicates the question. In 2024, the Jacob’s Media Tech survey found that younger radio listeners were far more receptive to artificial intelligence than older listeners. This conflict is particularly notable at WERU, where creating an intergenerational community has been a deliberate goal.
Murphy said WERU trains programmers not to rely on algorithms to assemble their playlists.
“The reason people are tuning in is that there’s a human being who loves this music and loves sharing it,” he said. “An algorithm can give you tons of options, but it isn’t capable of loving the music and the people.”
For Spalding, carrying that love forward will mean listening before leading. She described her role as a kind of “weather vane,” taking direction from the community, board, committees, and staff, then “moving forward and creating a framework to uphold the decisions and commitments that we make,” she said. “It’s very natural for me to find a consensus that lifts up the most people.”
She drew a firm boundary, however, around creative substitution.
“I don’t think there are many arguments in favor of replacing artists, musicians and writers with non-human creators,” she said.
While the technologies surrounding WERU will continue to change, what distinguishes the station for Murphy and Spalding is people. Murphy described seeing programmers in their seventies and those in their twenties connecting at the station, “and they’re totally into the same band, and they’re talking about it like crazy, and they’re both rabid fans.”
The same could happen around climate issues, he said, where younger and older volunteers discover “they’re allies. And WERU helped them connect. It’s so cool!”
It was an idea that focused a new lens on an earlier exchange between Murphy and Spalding:
“Kristin is far more interesting than I am,” Murphy said dryly.
“You make the jokes, and I’m great at laughing,” she replied.
On Saturday morning, August 8, during the final hour of the pledge drive, Murphy and Spalding stepped into the studio for the live hand-off. It was Murphy’s final on-air appearance as general manager. Earlier, he had suggested that he might “have to hold back tears.”
On air, Murphy acknowledged how much professional satisfaction he had always drawn “as the general manager; thank you to everyone.” Emotion was evident in his voice as he passed the mic to Spalding. “The station grew me,” he said, “and now it’s growing Kristen.”
“We. Are. You.,” Spalding replied. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Right on cue, WERU programmer Charlie Daniels raised the fader and the lonesome sound of a mandolin soared above a slide guitar. To 25,000 listeners across mid-Coast, Downeast and Central Maine, Bill Staines sang, “…As I grow older I take comfort from the sight of a young one’s eyes/ early morning skies/…I’ve got a long way to go.”