Dear Reader,

You may have noticed something strange around your dining halls lately. Something slinky, something smelly, something somewhat disemboweled…it may have been covered in multicolored, toxic-free wax…it may have been attached to a hysterical freshman, whose dreams could now come true…or a weeping senior, realizing that the cavalry charge has come, but moments too late…yes, it’s the WYBZINE, the first such ’zine to grace campus since the Gunslinger days of the mid-’00s.

It all started in a dingy off-campus bunker with a pair of scissors, hobby glue, and some tears. Setting: WYBC Yale Radio HQ—just past the Green on Temple Street (walk through the back alley, underneath a circular car-park, past the stale vomit, through the door with the secret code, up the Magical Mystery Elevator, and into our arms). The Players: Chloé Rossetti, JE ’11, Marketing Director, a.k.a. “Zeeny the Wondergirl”; Jesse Bradford, TD ’11, Program Director, a.k.a. “Peachfuzz the Moustachio’d”; Chika Ota, TC ’11, Artist-in-Residence, a.k.a. “Does She Even Go Here?”; and Sean Owczarek, SM ’11, the General Manager, a.k.a. “Kid Crisis.”

Zeeny: [weeping into a Xerox of Optimus Prime] Do you guys even think that anybody will read this monstrosity?

Peachfuzz: Which side do you think is better: my left side or my right side?

Zeeny: Focus, Peach, we have some work to do!

DSEGH: So, for the Anti-Fling logo, did you want a zombie eating a Spring-Flinger sitting on a tuba full of ooze, or…

Zeeny: Lots of ooze!

Kid Crisis: Wait…you said that this ’zine was black-and-white, right?

Zeeny: Obvi.

KC: …what if we ordered crayons?

Peachfuzz: Can you make me into a Superhero?

DSEGH: Was that like a Marvel-style superhero or more of the DC variety…

KC: …I just ordered 720 packs of crayons from Oriental Trading. That’s 4320 crayons.

Peachfuzz: There’s a company called Oriental Trading?

KC: Yeah—check out their logo.

Zeeny: …a dodo?

Peachfuzz: It’s sort of like a cross between a flamingo and a toucan…

DSEGH: A Toumingo?

KC: Or a Flamoucan.

And THUS THE WYBZINE WAS BORN! From a 100-person-strong outcropping on the very threshold of new media emerged an old-fashioned cut ‘n’ paste job assembled in back alleys and released with a free pack of crayons. A 20-page conglomeration of zombies, superheroes, Transformers and a rampaging Lady Gaga shooting laser beams at a mob of E-Board Power Rangers and a Safety-Pin Pac-Man. The ’zine. A muddy mix of the show schedule-cum-recent updates-cum-Yeasayer interview-cum-malarkish battle-cry, “RADIO IS DEAD—LONG LIVE RADIO,” was a gamble from the beginning. Truly this was something that Yale campus had never seen before

The ’zine, it appears, was very well-received. “This ’zine is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen at Yale!” Michael Liuzzi, MC ’12, said. “Wow—you guys have a ’zine and buttons? You guys have so much merchandise!” Scott Snyder, JE ’10, said. “Of course people love it—you guys released it with crayons—who doesn’t love coloring in?” David Mogilner, PC ’12, said.

One might say that this iPod-toting terrestrial dinosaur had brought some cheer to the darkened eyes of a flaccid and insipid arts scene. One might even say that the WYBZINE is emblematic of the last bastion of cultural relevancy on Yale campus. But those people would be douchebags. Truly, folks, the reason why the ’zine has hit home with so may Yalies is because…well, it’s so, so, silly.

It would be somewhat exploitative of me, as one of the two ’zine-creators, to expound the various virtues of this publication within another periodical that I also used to write for…but I’m going to anyway. This ’zine is the first battle-cry, ladies and gentleman, of a campus-wide push towards down-to-earth conversation, confessions about childhood cartoon idols, and a reclamation of what it is to be “just another college kid kicking around town, listening to some sweet tunes and getting pumped about some no-name indie band who is crashing on their couch to perform a gig in their best friend’s basement.”

Where do we go from here? Well, DSEGH and I are currently engaged in a heated discussion about the theme of WYBZINE #2 (to be released post-Spring Break): Steam Punk v. Samurai Jack? Smarmy Victorian Pirates v. Robots?

But, more importantly, if you want in on the revolution, email training@wybc.com, and we’ll suit you up with a jetpack and fit you into our busy schedule. This family is putting the call-out out to its fresh-faced, shadow-dwelling radio children—you know who you are, kids, come and find us.