Ex Nihilo (XN) Radio
The story of XN Radio and Podcast Network
MOODY CAMPUS RADIO
In a program meeting under the weight that the 2008 financial crisis put on all nonprofits, the topic was what to do with the campus radio station. Radio as a medium had fallen on hard times and the student station had fallen way behind the times. Without the technology, budget, interest, or faculty it seemed we would have to give it up.
The station was made up of one volunteer student leader (Ashanti) who was graduating, the faculty advisor just retired, the signal was no longer broadcast, and there wasn’t yet the technology on campus to stream online in any listenable way. No one would notice the shutdown and the choice seemed unwelcome but inevitable…but not to everyone. A few were convinced radio formats would find equilibrium in the new media landscape and that audio would see a technological resurgence before long.
What’s more, MBI, an institute of three parts with one being a gold-standard radio broadcast network (Education, Publishing, Radio) simply had to continue to train for the future of audio storytelling and broadcast technology — whether airwaves or wifi. The case was made for the communications program to keep student radio alive for another year to see if we could reinspire student interest.
Enter two young women (Darbi and Clair) who wanted to team up and take on the radio station’s management. There would be no technology or budget, but there was interest, passion, and ideas. It would be more than enough. The young man that was keeping the mics on and those two women reignited Moody Campus Radio.
An increasingly visible and vibrant MCR attracted new student leaders to campus who came to focus on radio training — bringing their experience and ideas with them. Within a few years, Moody Campus Radio grew to a team of over 20 which allowed it to expand from exclusively broadcasting to incorporating all avenues of media including writing, film, photography, graphic and web design. MCR became the media hub for campus life and the anchor team of the new Moody Media Lab in 2010.
Ex Nihilo (XN) Radio
Unbound by new online platforms and the new public-facing initiatives of the Media Lab, it was decided that Moody Campus Radio would grow beyond the limits of a campus radio station. To be more it would need to name itself more. MCR would become Ex Nihlio (XN) Radio. Or XNradio for short.
ex ni·hi·lo /ˈeks ˈnē(h)əlō/: a Latin phrase meaning “out of nothing.” It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning “creation out of nothing.”
“Creation’ as applied to human authorship seems to me entirely misleading term. We rearrange elements He has provided. There is not a vestige of real creativity de novo in us. Try to imagine a new primary colour, a third sex, a fourth dimension, or even a monster which does not consist of bits and parts of existing animals stuck together. Nothing happens. And that surely is why our works never mean to others quite what we intended: because we are recombining elements made by Him and already containing His meanings” ~ C.S. Lewis
XN: a shorthand abbreviation for “Christian.” X is the first letter of the Chi Rho symbol taking its meaning from the Greek word for Christos (XPIΣTOΣ) which starts with the letter X and has long been used as shorthand for “Christ” in some Christian circles.
