In My Mind And In My Car
Video may have killed the radio star but the iPod has helped me re-discover NPR.
I know, it seems strange that a device that to some is nothing short of Doom for both terrestrial and satellite radio could actually turn someone on to the often dry, yet reliable and competent smarminess that is National Public Radio, but that’s exactly what has happened to me over the past several months.
After years of saying that I’d never have any need for one of them new-fangled mp3 players (as Dave will no doubt confirm), I broke down and bought one. An iPod Nano to be exact. Now don’t get me wrong, having at least a portion of my music collection available at the push of a click wheel is cool but what really got me attached to my Nano were the podcasts. I mean, seriously, where have these things been all my life?
I know, most of them have been on the radio but other than in my car, I never actually listened to the radio! And even then, I only listened to WXPN for tunes and to our local all-news outlet to confirm the traffic jams that I was already trapped in. How was I supposed to know when all these great public radio shows were even on let alone carve out time to sit and listen to them?
But, thanks to the fact that the fine people at NPR put most of their programming out in the form of podcasts, it doesn’t matter when Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me is on, all I know is that it downloads into my iTunes every Sunday evening, with a the same smarmy reliability each and every week. I can listen to it on the treadmill, in my car, at my desk at work, on my way to lunch, or when Dave is trying to talk to me about something and doesn’t realize that my ear buds are in.
So what’s on my iPod that can also be heard on NPR? Here are three of my faves:
Wait, Wait..Don’t Tell Me – the quiz show for NPR geeks that basically rewards us for listening all week. The show presents questions from the week’s news to a trio of “celebâ€? panelists and call-in listeners. Very funny, very topical, but a very poor choice to listen to while exercising because your fits of laughter really throw off the aerobic process. I’m just saying.
KRCW’s The Business – originating from Santa Monica’s brilliant public radio outlet, KCRW, but distributed by NPR, The Business is entertainment news and information that you can actually use. All the blather about who’s dating who, who’s in rehab, and who’s converted to Scientology is left to Us Weekly. This leaves host Claude Brodesser-Akner plenty of time to focus on such topics as the differences between scripts written on spec and those sold as pitches, the effect of CGI on movie budgets, the latest distribution technology, how piracy impacts the studios’ and the consumers’ bottom lines, etc. It’s good listening, so good that I’m bummed it only comes out once per week, but Brodesser-Akner often updates his blog in between and that helps ease the withdrawal. A side note: this show also has one of the few really cool theme songs in all of public radio. Imagine that.
This I Believe – A simple premise: someone – a different person each week, in fact – reads an essay which he or she has written summing up a core personal belief. You literally never know what you’re going to get. One week a jovial man extols his belief in good, slow-cooked barbecue. The next week, an Army wife describes why she believes that her husband will phone her each month from Iraq, as he has promised. The following week, the founder of Craig’slist talks about why he believes that the percentage of people who want to lie, cheat, and steal from their fellow man is relatively small. NPR claims that this is one of their most popular segments ever. I believe that.
Take a listen to any or all of these. On your iPod or even the old-fashioned way.
