Disorderly Content

I was listening to the podcast of On The Media in the car today, an NPR show I like even more now that I can listen whenever I want. Anyway, there was a discussion with National Public Radio's ex-ombudsman, who was getting the third degree about some of his pronouncements regarding NPR programming. And I have to wonder which of us is more screwed up, since I found myself agreeing with the interviewer and disagreeing with the ombudsman every single time.

Case in point: some minor story they ran on All Things Considered where someone mentioned in passing the non-reality of the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. Which caused some heartbroken mommy to call in to complain, because her four and five year old heard this broadcast and had their own little coronary meltdowns. I mean, isn't the most important thing for NPR to worry about is not saying anything that might upset the pre-kindergarten crowd who might be listening in? Talk about programming for the lowest common denominator...

Or the famous incident when Bill O'Reilly walked off Terry Gross's Fresh Air show because she wanted to quote something about him from People magazine. He ordered her not to, but she went ahead anyway. So he walked out of the studio, which is funny since his studio was a couple of hundred miles from hers. And the ombudsman came down on Gross, all 5'2" of her, for "going after" (his words) the most abusive prick on radio today (my words). If she'd been interviewing Hitler, I wonder if bringing up the subject of Auschwitz would have been considered over the line.

A bunch of years ago, a friend of mine was wondering why nobody made a VCR equivalent for radio. I didn't think much of the idea, opining that there wasn't much in the way of appointment radio in those days to create a market for a radio recorder. Now I'm not so sure, both because of all the NPR shows I listen to regularly (and on my own schedule, thanks to those that offer podcasts). But I had a moment today when I recalled our discussion and decided I'd missed something.

I was in the car on Interstate 280. There's a stretch of highway where interference from power lines make my iPod's radio transmitter useless, so I was tuned into KQED FM. And a show called City Arts & Lectures had a recorded session with foodies Calvin Trillin and R.W. Apple. It was a great show, full of wit and wisdom about good and bad places to eat and changes in American culture, not all of which were cause for distress. But right around the half hour mark I had to choose whether to stop for groceries or head home to answer the call of nature. And I hated the idea of missing the second half of the show. Which made me wonder when somebody's gonna build a TiVo equivalent for cars, something we can use to pause the audio of an interesting program so we can pick it up later.

It is purely coincidental that I'm in the market for a new car. But boy, if somebody offered an option like that, I'd pay for it. It'd be right behind an iPod hookup that doesn't involve radio. (Damn power lines!)

Well, sorta. I've added two new podcasts to the collection iTunes manages for me. One really is old time radio; it's called Soap Detectives, and it offers real recordings of radio detective stories from the 40s and 50s. I've just been listening to a seven part serial called Paul Temple and the Spencer Affair and enjoying it immensely. You can get the episodes from their website or via the iTunes Music Store.

The other podcast isn't really from the good old days; it only plays it on TV radio my iPod. It's called Decoder Ring Theatre, and it's a wonderful pastiche of radio drama from that time before you and I were born. Featuring the adventures of The Red Panda, Canada's Greatest Superhero! And, repeating myself with different URLS, available at their website and the iTMS.

I like listening to A Prairie Home Companion on public radio. Not as much as Car Talk or Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me or Fresh Air. But it's definitely in the top five. I like it because Garrison Keillor is a liberal, and a cheerful and upbeat one at that. But mostly I like it because it and he are warm and funny and more concerned about entertaining and enlightening the audience than about espousing political views.

And maybe part of that is that Mr. Keillor enjoys what he does. As this wonderful essay he wrote for The Nation shows, he has a true appreciation for radio, what it was and what it might just be again. He sees hope in the face of Clear Channel's attempts to homogenize the medium, with iPods and satellite radio and the like drawing away their audience, leaving the unique and kooky and highly entertaining to fill the void.

I just hope he's right.

I try to arrange my Saturday erranding to start around ten in the morning. That way I can catch bits and pieces of Car Talk, followed by Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! at 11. Wait Wait... is National Public Radio's weekly news quiz, a show that's both informative and hysterically funny. Where else will you learn that Hasbro once issued an SS Officer version of G.I. Joe? Or this week's tidbit: that a local fire station in Australia couldn't answer a call because one of the firemen had borrowed the fire engine to make a pizza run? During which he met some friends and took them cruising? We're assured than another station responded to the actual emergency, and that the fireman in question was suspended. But where else do you get news like this?

A quick pointer to an article about Car Talk, the best show on National Public Radio. And this from somebody who is a total idiot about cars (I offer into evidence People's Exhibit A) and cares even less than he knows. If you haven't discovered Click and Clack, the Tappett Brothers, do so immediately. These blogs will be here when you get back.

(Thanks to Joho the Blog for the link.)