Radio NopalRadio Nopal

Radio Nopal broadcasts from a storefront on José Rosas Moreno in Mexico City's San Rafael, where anyone walking past can see the booth through the window. It was put together by a collective of artists, producers and record collectors who wanted a station they owned outright, and it runs on Mensajito — a transmitter Antonio Salinas and Diego Aguirre built on a Raspberry Pi from parts any electronics shop stocks. What began as roughly ten programmes has grown into a grid of more than fifty, every one of them volunteer-made.

Residents set the schedule rather than a playlist: Jazz Chilangringo works through the American canon, México Blues Radio builds each episode around a single theme, Cadencia Ancestral traces reggaetón back to its African and Caribbean roots, and Vaivén Onírico threads jazz, soul, hip-hop and psychedelia together. Around them sit noise, drone, sound art and poetry.