Presentation of Kyle Hannan: Fellow 2010

I am born in Cape Town in the mid-60s (Chinese Year of the Snake, otherwise a Leo) and grew up in South Africa and Zimbabwe as the oldest of 6 boys. 80s child who studied for diplomatic service at University but got into radio instead. Married my varsity girlfriend in Rome and we now live on the North Somerset coast in England. Have worked in and out of broadcasting for 25 years.

My project is Radio Salaam Shalom (RSS). Its mission is to create a multimedia resource dedicated to Jewish and Muslim dialogue, to promote understanding and share awareness of common community values, and to be an innovative broadcaster for constructive Muslim and Jewish communication everywhere.

RSS set up in late 2006 as the UK's first combined Muslim-Jewish broadcast media project. I was contracted to set it up and manage the radio project in cooperation with the charity's Trustees and volunteers. It invites people from both communities to celebrate, debate and share the events, issues and faith that shape the daily lives of the Jewish and Muslim communities of our city and beyond. It produces the world's only English Jewish-Muslim podcasts as well as the only Muslim-Jewish intercultural 24/7 music mix for online listening.


My personal achievements include setting up the first legal community radio station in South African history (Rhodes Music Radio), establishing the first community radio station in Nelson Mandela's home region of Umtata and also delivering the Salaam Shalom radio project.

My motto in life is "Give more than you take."

My favourite quotation: "The fool thinks he has won a battle when he bullies with harsh speech".

Final word: "There's always more to say."