Alex Chadwick documentary to air on KCRW

After Alex Chadwick lost his hosting job at NPR, then his wife to cancer, he and a friend who also was facing a personal crisis went rafting through Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River in Utah. The radio documentary that resulted, "The Descent," makes its debut this Friday at 7:30 p.m. on "Unfictional" on KCRW. It's part of the station's Independent Producer Project to foster original content from the talented freelance producers who are out in the world.

There's a twist here. The friend who went down the rapids with Chadwick, Tim DeChristopher, is a climate activist who is awaiting sentencing on two felony convictions for fraudulently bidding on oil and gas leases at a federal auction. It was a deliberate act of civil disobedience, and sentencing is Tuesday. That day, KCRW will re-air the show in the "Unfictional" slot at 2:30 p.m.

Photo: Alex Chadwick