Why do you listen to NPR?

I've been a member of WNYC (New York) then KPCC (Pasadena, CA) for years. The news shows are genuinely thought-provoking and balanced; most of the talk shows are fascinating and cover topics that you don't hear about elsewhere; and the weekend shows are both funny and sophisticated. My will stipulates that NPR be piped into my grave.

Why do others listen? Can you possibly narrow down a list of your favorite shows (I can't)?

Does anyone have problems with NPR?

cover topics that you don't hear about elsewhere

BINGO! I first heard The White Stripes on NPR. That in itself is enough to be grateful to NPR forever.

I only wish my local member station didn't stop broadcasting so early in the evening. They switch to all jazz music, and I'm the only person in the world it seems that doesn't like jazz.

NPR/PRI has the best programming available on American radio, and almost as good as much of the programming on Deutschlandfunk, Deutschland Radio Berlin, and the BBC. Although a lot of our local air talent is painful to listen to, the national shows: Studio 360, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Radio Lab, Morning Edition, This American Life, etc. are like oases in the desert of modern American media.

News on NPR is refreshing for its lack of ideological spin, especially when compared with such outlets as CNN and FOX news. Good journalism, like good art is, by its very nature, progressive in its world view. When it isn't, it is simply a slave to a particular ideological position and one-sided in its reporting.

#3 Yes, it is an oasis in the desert of American media. I first started listening about 1987. I listen to Morning Edition, Diane Rehm, Fresh Air, All Things Considered daily. Also like American Roots music show on weekends.

Morning Edition had a segment this week on Mavis Staples (Staple Singers) and I immediately ordered her new CD based on what I had heard.

I've been listening since 1992 or so, although I remember hearing All Things Considered on Armed Forces radio back in the mid-1970s. I'd forgotten about public radio in the interim.

Now I'm a member of KHPR/KIPO and a confirmed listener from 0700-1700 every weekday and 0700-1400 or so on weekends.

There are a lot of good things to say (and some not so good) about public radio, but one rarely acknowledged but secretly held by many is, I'll bet, no commercials! Have you listened to any commercial AM radio recently? Arrrrgh!

Hawai'i is very fortunate; we have two entirely different program streams on separate stations, both managed by the same people. If dollar volume of donations is the yardstick, the classical station is by far the more popular, but the news/jazz station is the one I spend all my time with.

In the Austin, Texas area, it's 90.5 FM -- KUT. I've been a Member, on and off, for years depending on the budget. We've got the tote bag, the umbrella, some CDs... That's been over the 18 years I've live here in Texas. Prior to that, it was WNYC in New York. My folks used to listen to it when I was a proverbial knee-high. Whenever I travel, I seek out the NPR/PRI stations; it's like being home.

We get PHC, Car Talk, StarDate, Earth and Sky, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Folkways, Morning Edition, What I Believe... whole evenings of jazz, blues, World Music... I think the only time we listen to a different station is at night when we're reading in bed -- that calls for classical music, and it's not too far away on the dial.

Does anyone else get the urge to smack Mee-Shell Norrris in the diaphragm in order to get her voice out. She goes into whisper mode far too often. Other than that I enjoy All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

Ha! Yes, good point. I like NPR but can only take it in moderate doses. I like the short stories and stories about music the most. Am I the only person in the liberal overeducated universe who can't stand Terry Gross ? I think she is highly overrated as an interviewer, has a whiny voice, and is frequently way too ignorant about her subjects. Too full of herself.
Now I might be deluged with opposite views, but that's OK - let's hear it for free speech !

I’ve been listening to NPR since the late 80’s early 90’s and since leaving college it’s pretty much the only radio station to which I listen. I love almost all of the programming carried by my local station and quite often listen online to catch shows I’ve missed or can’t hear locally. I love the general news programs (Morning Edition/All Things Considered) because they make me feel like I have a clue as to what is happening in the world and they generally make me want to find out more about many of the topics they cover (unlike TV news which makes me angry because it’s soooooooooooooo poorly put together and very choppy in what gets covered.) I really got hooked because of shows like FreshAir and back in the day I really loved the Derrick McGinty show (sadly long gone). I’m not a science person but Talk of The Nation Science Friday IS GREAT! After I listen to one of those shows I actually feel like I understand a bit of science. In high school I used to listen to the best alternative independent radio station in the country. Recently I’ve been able to listen to it again due to the Internet, but I actually think I learn about more better “alternative” bands from NPR long before my old station plays them. I can’t think of much of anything I dislike about NPR except that I don’t get enough chances to listen. Not to be crass or weird but I actually think Terry Gross’s voice is sexy. (I was so disappointed when I actually saw her picture. She’s an attractive lady but she wasn’t at all how I had pictured her…. Ahhhh amour… Oh well, my wife would have upset had she found out anyway. ; o )

WholeHouseLibrary # 6,

Is that a musical proverbial knee-high?

I've listened to NPR for at least 30 years, been a member, first at WABE now here at KERA. I remember when Morning Edition started up with Bob Edwards. It's a shame what they did to him. I don't give two hoots and a holler for demographics or wanting to give Morning Edition a younger sound. Bob Edwards was Morning Edition. I had a Powder Milk Biscuit t-shirt which I absolutely loved. I wore it and my WRFG Flying Radio t-shirt until they disintegrated right off my back. WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) was/is the best independent radio station in Atlanta. They were/are a Pacifica Network Station. I wish we had one in the Dallas/Plano area. With Pacifica and Fox you'd have a perfect balance and still wouldn't know what was going on.

Has anyone noticed Morning Edition and All Things Considered are sharing certain stories and features. I don't remember them doing that in the past.

NPR may have been the greatest cultural standard in my life.

(edit for spelling)

geneg,

No, I was never a Nashville Cat, and I didn't get musical until I was more than 3 knees high, but I like to think I made up for lost time.

geneg--I've also noticed that ME and ATC are sharing stories. It seems to have started over the past two or three months.

And I completely agree about Bob Edwards! I still miss hearing his voice. I'm glad they haven't canned Carl Kassell. He brings gravity to the limerick segment of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

inkdrinker--Regarding Terry Gross: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Thanks ! I am with you. She is so bad, especially considering how long she's been interviewing people - why doesn't she get better ? (because she thinks she's hot stuff, and people keep telling her that for no discernible reason) A shame, because her interview subjects are often fascinating people. She doesn't even bother to do the most rudimentary background research before she starts asking them stupid questions - I think this is insulting to the interviewee.

you aren't the only one, I want to like jazz but I've tried and given up. I'm proud about all the different musics I like but I can't get into it. My NPR's switched back to mostly classical but we have two great stations here in the DC beltway so I can pick, music or news.
(that part was trying to reply to message #2, but I don't get how this works yet so..)

Anyway I Have to say: Jim and Gwen and Ray and Margaret are my Heroes (or something) Washington Week is my favorite show next to Jim's.
AND last week I shared a flight to NC with Linda Greenhouse, one of the regulars on Gwen's show and a Pulitzer Prize winner and author of a book about a Supreme Court judge. She was patient with how pop-fanny I acted, just so nice.. Then when we landed she gave me her New Yorker and I kinda spazzed about it having her name on it :p
So now I can't wait to hear her on Washington Week again!

Ditto on the story sharing between ME & ATC. Ditto also on only being able to take NPR in moderate doses. I often switch away from one of their news broadcasts to something more upbeat, but will return again once they've switched topics. I can usually keep Speaking of Faith and the Infinite Mind on all the way through. And, of course, whenever I catch them, I can always keep Car Talk, A Prairie Home Companion, and This American Life on.

#8 et al., thank you--I thought I was the only one who too frequently clicked off Terry Gross. I think she's the only one on NPR I do.

Has no one mentioned "Wait, wait, don't tell me!" yet? Have the podcast downloaded to your computer each week so you don't miss it! Too funny.

My local station is WBUR Boston which has very little, if any, music (there's more music on WGBH Boston). I've been listening for maybe a little less than 20 years now. My backup during snoozer interviews (and when I drive out of the area and can't find an adequate replacement)and fund drives are, what else, books on tape! In the house there is a radio on the island in the kitchen and it has never been tuned to anything else but NPR.

Well, yeah, there's WWDTM. I also enjoy "Says You!"

Speaking of "Wait Wait," did you know that Adam Felber has a regularly-updated blog?

I listened to NPR the entire time I lived in the US, first in New Orleans (WWNO), then NYC (WNYC). I'm grateful for it to this day (and still sometimes listen in on the audiostream), but, frankly, as much as I like its people, it's only special in the American context. To non-American ears (and eyes since the online site) it's still incredibly commercial, slick and "packaged", with a very bland political stance.

I didn't have a TV and read the local newspapers only occasionally (the NY Times somewhat more often), so I got the bulk of my American-produced info from NPR. Supported them too in both places... The first time I heard a membership drive I thought the sky was falling--it's still hard to wrap my Euro-socialist mind around the utter neglect (by the government) of public institutions in the US.

And I am still mad about the sacking or whatever it was of Bob Edwards too! Why do people ruin a good thing?

Something similar happened here recently on CBC radio 2. I'm waiting to calm down enough to write a polite letter... :)

Bob Edwards left? Why? Any info?

#21, in part, money. Edwards was making upwards of $300K a year, and the powers that be at NPR (although they denied it) thought they could do as well with one host in DC and one in LA (Inskeep and Montaigne) for less cost.

NativeRoses--I heard that they were concerned about appealing to a younger audience. Which is such a dumb reason!

Linkmeister--Wait, Wait and Says You are fantastic. Thanks for linking to Adam Felber's blog. I didn't know he had one.

Not only does Adam have one, but he interacts with the commenters, he has guest posters like Peter Siegel, Mo Rocca was a co-blogger for a while, and he's been writing it for three or four years.

Here's a classic: Adam's 2004 concession speech.

(You did know he ran for President as an independent that year, right?)

My favorites are "Wait, wait, don't tell me!", "Science Friday", "American Routes" (music program) and "This American Life".

I absolutely cannot endure "Prairie Home Companion" (it's hard to feel nostalgic for fictional small-town America when you grew up in the real thing), "Speaking of Faith", and Terry Gross.

Science Friday and Marketplace, I'd pay just for those. Marketplace is just one solid news show. It's just not business. Today, with the announcement of more sanctions on Sudan, they did a story of the effectiveness of such sanctions. Good stuff.

You can listen to the Marketplace morning reports for free here:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/am.html

They seem to charge for their evening shows, but we can get them through radio station streams.

Okay now… Could every one stop dogging on the secret love of my life (well not so secret now, but don’t tell my wife). Terry Gross is wonderful. I love her playful laugh, her ever so cute stumbling style of interview, and her nervous nature. Ahhhh Terry if you only knew.

Inkdrinker--You can't explain (or apologize for) the mysteries of love. I actually like . . . not LIKE like, but still . . . Terry Gross. I think her stumbling style disarms interviewees and leads them away from the canned answers they're used to giving on this kind of show. Also, she doesn't let guests get away with making generalities, but always asks them to explain what they mean or to give examples. It often leads to stories that wouldn't otherwise have come out. Whatever you may think of her nerdy, stumbling persona, I think the show is always interesting and memorable.

I like Terry Gross too (for a longish time I thought her name was Cherry...)

Not a favourite, and not something I listened to very regularly, but she seemed to me a good interviewer, self-effacing and comfortable.

The morning news were what I listened to most frequently, and All Things Considered if I made it home on time. I liked Saturday's morning edition too and developed a great affection for Daniel Schorr. (But how anyone in the world can imagine Cokie Roberts is a "political comentator" is beyond me...)

Car Talk fascinated me against all my natural inclinations--I hate cars and driving with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. But I loved those two and their banter. Oh--same thing with Frank DeFord's sports commentary. I wouldn't care if all sports died overnight, and yet his stories had me completely in thrall, be it football, curling or cross-country skiing he discussed. (Similar to A. J. Liebling on boxing etc.) Not only is he a fantastic writer, his delivery was so impassioned, you could say theatrical.

I listen to NPR for a lot of the reasons that people have mentioned - how it's more fair and balanced than other news sources, how they often talk about really interesting things and have all sorts of different shows, etc, etc.

But sometimes...sometimes I just listen because their voices are so soothing. Maybe it's because I grew up listening to it, maybe they choose for it or train for it, but whatever the reason, I find many of the Public Radio voices comfortable, comforting to have on in the background.

#25 - I agree on Prairie Home Companion. Keillor's voice is bad enough when he's talking, but when he's singing or reading poetry, AAaaaaaaargh! Some of his writing is entertaining, but most of it is just depressing.

sometimes I just listen because their voices are so soothing.

Absolutely! But to me they were soothing mostly because they became a part of my routine... audio security blankie.

So imagine the emotional distress when they cut Edwards... there was a lawsuit in there!

Keillor's voice is bad enough

Aw, c'mon! How can you not like Guy Noir? :)

i agree. i miss hearing the somewhat gravelly, "i'm Bob Edwards . . . "

Assuming by "Why do you listen to NPR?", we really mean public radio:

Sometime back in the mid to late 70s, I began tuning in a late night Jazz show called "Night Flight" (I still have the T-shirt) on a funky little Dallas radio station way to the left of the dial. After High School, I had lost interest in Rock and found Jazz offered the same kind of power with a more varied and challenging approach to music. Then, one evening, I heard some odd little program that sounded like it came out of my parents radio days. There were stories about small towns, oddball commercials, and a regular (Ms Stevie Beck - The Queen of the Authoharp) who played marvelous music on an instrument I had only known before as something my Sunday School teacher let us play with when I was little. The show was called 'A Prarie Home Companion'. These two programs got me hooked on public radio, and, over the years, I've lost all need for any other radio stations.

Public radio has allowed me to develop my musical tastes into quite an eclectic blend of classical, folk, jazz, and a wide range of contemporary rock/pop genres. I agree with some that 'A Prarie Home Companion' has lost a lot of it's early spark, but it did lead me into some new areas of music, poetry, and literature that I may not have found on my own. I now play the autoharp myself, along with a few other folk instruments, and music and musicians heard on public radio had a lot to do with that.

As I grew older, I began to realize that the news coverage on Morning Edtion and All Things Considered was far better than most others available, and I began to really appreciate the humorous and heartbreaking personal stories often included, which have lead to many 'driveway moments'. And there are many CDs in my collection that would no be there if NPR did not routinely showcase new and nearly unknown musical talent. Many of household names now, but when I bought mine, I often had to go direct to the musician or special order from the music store.

My car radion and home stereo have not been tuned to any other station for the last 15 years, except when searching for another public radion station while traveling.

Os.

Regarding radio buttons frozen in place on public radio stations, I admit that I occasionally switch to live sports.

NPR/PRI could remedy that, of course. Neil Conan took a summer off to broadcast minor league baseball, so he's got the talent for it. Can you imagine Carl Kassell doing the NBA playoffs, or Nina Tottenberg doing the Super Bowl?

I've listened to NPR all my life - the opening notes of ATC still remind me of dinner time at my parents house. Whenever I'm traveling, and forced to listen to non-public radio, I usually opt for silence rather that endure the horrors that are commercial radio! Our NPR station (WAMU - Washington, DC) has a great selection of NPR and BBC, and I feel I am a better informed human for the shows there. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is hands down my favorite, and while not a show, the Story Corps pieces get me every time....

I opt for audio-books when I don't listen to public radio. And I love the Story Corps work - that's going to be a valuable audio cultural library someday. We should all be recording such stuff within our own families/social groups if only to benefit our children and/or friends children after we're gone.

Two other national shows that I try never to miss - Selected Shorts and This American Life.

Os.

Os #36,

"a funky little Dallas radio station way to the left of the dial." KNON?

>40 geneg:
No, KERA. Now it's a big, mainstream public radio station. It was a bit more home-made back then (or so I hear - I'm not in Dallas anymore).

Os.

Os,

I see. For the last nineteen years KERA has been a pretty standard NPR station, while at least until about six or seven years ago when I stopped listening to it KNON (89.3) fit your description perfectly.

geneg,
You must remember Groovy Joe Poovey, then.

Os,
Wow, Night Flight! I'd forgotten it entirely. Your t-shirt reminds me of one that I have from the old Edison Theater with James Dean on the front.

I don't get to listen to NPR as much as I used to anymore because I work nights (although more shows seem to be offering podcasts, so maybe I should look into that).

As it is, the only shows my station plays that I really can't stand are The Diane Rehms Show (sorry, but her voice drives me up a wall) and The Splendid Table (a cooking show which strikes me as extremely pretentious).

My favorite news show is Talk of the Nation. My favorite non-news show is probably A Prairie Home Companion, though this is sort of a mixed bag for me -- I enjoy the skits and monologues and such, but mostly dislike the music.

stochastic, if you have iTunes, there are about 50 public radio stations to be found under the radio section, most of them providing streams. I discovered this last night while fooling around with it looking for an oldies station.

>42 geneg:
geneg,
I get to Dallas a few time a year - I'll have to look for KNON. I still tune in KERA as it's still better than almost anything on commercial radio.

Os.

For those of you missing Bob Edwards, he's still in the public radio world. He has his own show on PRI (Public Radio International) The Bob Edwards Show

I join with those who dislike Terry Gross, but in her defense I will say that, clumsy as she sounds, she does have the ability to leave her guests alone to talk, and I think that may be the source of her appeal. Her questions are awkward, but for some reason her guests seem to take off from even the worst of them, and some very interesting radio is often the result.

Oh no! Not another Terry hater... it breaks my heart.