Jack’s connection to radio didn’t start with sustainability — it started in high school, when he worked as a DJ in his hometown of Tryon, NC. His interest in media showed up from time to time – working with public television and public radio, for example.
So in 2005, when Solar Jim invited him to co-host a show on the relatively new WCOM Community Radio, it was less a new adventure than a return to something familiar. On air, Jack goes by Sustainable Jack, and together he and Solar Jim host The Home Power Hour, a show that’s been running for 21 years (briefly as a television show as well) and is still going strong.
Home Power Hour airs live every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. on WCOM 103.5 FM, a community radio station based in Carrboro, North Carolina, with the signal reaching Chapel Hill and the surrounding area and streaming live worldwide on the web.
Sustainable Jack and Solar Jim spend the hour talking sustainable living, renewable energy, and “Bringing the Hope of Sustainability to a Terminal Culture.” The show is sponsored by the Handy Village Institute, Sky Power for the People, and the Triad Electric Vehicle Association. Linda Busch was a long-term past sponsor.
The program broadcasts on Wednesdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, . Listen to the show at wcomfm.org. Past episodes (since April, 2020) of The Home Power Hour are archived and available to listen to online at https://spinitron.com/WCOM/show/201314/Home-Power-Hour?page=24
Beyond the weekly show, Jack has also stepped in front of the camera on several occasions. Below, he and Mark Smith of TEVA of NC joined CBS17 (Nexstar Media) reporter Amber Freeman in Raleigh for two pilot segments: one where Mark and Jack demonstrated light electric vehicles, and another where Jack talked through the future of transportation, including a bit of good-natured myth-busting around range anxiety. The segments were meant as a test run for a possible ongoing feature, and they’re a good example of the same instinct that runs through the radio show: whatever the medium, Jack’s there to help people get less nervous about the technology and more excited about it.
Project with Nexstar Media
Sustainable Jack and Mark Smith of TEVA of NC joined Amber Freeman of Raleigh’s CBS17 for two segments.
In the first segment, Mark and Jack demonstrate light electric vehicles.
In the second segment, Jack talks about the future of transportation including dispelling Amber’s range anxiety.
These segments served as pilots for what we hoped to become a regular segment.