Best Radio Station in Sydney - 2RPH

Last month a young nineteen year old charity fund raiser knocked on my front door. We spoke for about 30 minutes. Before he left, he said: "You are more Australian than most people I know!"  I felt like I had won a major prize! It was such a recognition. When I was his age, I could never imagine anyone saying that about me. I am grateful for Radio 2RPH for helping me along this journey.

My brother and I arrived in Sydney as teenage migrants who did not speak any English. We studied at the local comprehensive high school chockful of migrants just like us. It was difficult to learn English from scratch. The only English we heard was spoken by our school teachers or on TV.

After changing high school in year 11, I started driving to try cut down my new school commute from 3 hours a day to 30 minutes each way. Radio became my main entertainment. I found AM talk back radio like 2UE and 2GB fascinating. It was a guilty pleasure to listen to the late Stan Zamenick roasting drunkard who dial into his radio show religiously each night. 

The game changer came, when my brother found 2RPH, the radio station that reads newspapers and magazine articles. It was like the boulder in front of Aladdin's Cave had swung wide open. As inquisitive teenagers with thirst for knowledge, we were eager to take in everything. The problem was, to read the front page articles of Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), it would have been a complete uphill battle that could have easily taken hours. We literally have to be armed with the good old Macquarie dictionary and search up every second word because we did not understand.   

2RPH solved our problem. It reads wide ranging print publishing contents from all over the world. From New Scientists to New Yorker, from The Economist to The Australian. It gave us the context, so we were no longer bogged down by the details. It also helped us with pronouncing those big words for the first time. because chances are, we have heard it read out before. Even readings like Sports, Women's Day, SMH's Good Food and Cainer Horoscope served an important purpose of providing light conversation material. 

2RPH also provide an important window into Australian culture. Those quirky daily observations made by SMH readers on Column 8 are a true gift. Allowing us to share a giggle with the rest of Sydney.

2RPH has travelled with me well through different stages of my life. As a high school/ uni student trying to make sense of the subtleties of the working world ahead; as a busy young mother chauffeuring screaming children all over Sydney, while craving non-child related insights and information; as an older person confronted with declining eyesight and want to migrate preferred method of information acquisition from reading to listening. 

2RPH is not just for people with vision impairment or print disability, it is for anyone who enjoys listening to real people reading quality publications, word for word. No AI voices. No fake news. You don't even need to know the program schedule off by heart. There is "On Demand" contents on the website, so one can just check-in any time of the day and be delighted.  

I hope you will start enjoying this treasure trove of knowledge and be part of the community that listens to 2RPH. The station is supported by limited government funding, and donation from listeners.  Donations are fully tax deductible and can be made via the website. Or maybe you can volunteer. There are so many ways to help a community radio station.

You can start listening to 2RPH the following ways: 

Online: 2rph.org.au

Greater Sydney Region: 1224AM, 100.5FM, DAB+

Newcastle and the Lower Hunter: 100.5FM

Wollongong and the Illawarra: 93.3FM

#2RPH