The Official NPR (National Public Radio) Thread (listen here!)

[Angry_Games]

*****

 

here are some of the links you can go to and listen to all of these things:

 

 

NPR Website

 

 

 

(I'll have to have momma supply the others)

 

*****

 

 

 

So momma got me all involved in listening to NPR while I am driving the car etc...and for the first week or so I thought "this is stupid, I hate talk radio"

 

but

 

as I actually listened to it, I have fallen in love with it (most of it anyway).

 

I remember down in FL driving a delivery van or driving my car delivering pizzas etc I could only get AM radio for a while...and so it was Chupacabra Salsa music on the Spanish stations, or Rush Limbaugh right-wing conservative talk radio.

 

I listened to Rush for a good 6 months until I finally got a cd player for my car and the delivery van got an FM radio lol.

 

 

I always hated it and other conservative talk radio because they always scream or insult everyone that doesn't believe what they believe.

 

Then we saw a thing on HBO one day about "Air America" which was liberal left-wing answer to Rush and his right-wing cronies.

 

 

 

 

Let's just say momma and I were both HORRIFIED to hear that left-wing liberal radio is the same stupid crap as right wing conservative radio.

 

Nothing but idiots screaming at each other, insulting others, not letting people talk, and a lot of dumb morons calling in saying the dumbest things.

 

 

 

 

 

*SCREEEEEECH*

 

ENOUGH!

 

 

So you know why I was hesitant to listen to NPR which has always been labeled "left wing liberal radio"

 

 

let me tell you something...something important...

 

I have no clue where people come up with this, but NPR is not liberal, not conservative, not anything. It is commercial free, listener-supported radio that has ALL KINDS OF STORIES.

 

Stuff you wouldn't believe you would hear...stuff that would make you cry, stuff that makes you angry, stuff that makes you laugh, stuff that makes you think.

 

 

I've come to appreciate NPR to the point where momma and I are 'sustained' members, meaning we donate $10 a month to our local NPR affiliate because we thoroughly enjoy most of their programming.

 

 

I'll state again in case anyone missed it...this is not liberal or conservative radio...

 

I honestly can't really explain it other than you have to listen to it to understand...and the great thing is that it is SO DIFFERENT each different little show.

 

There's Car Talk on weekends (you might have read these two clowners talking about cars in your local newspapers on Thursday or Sunday editions? Click n Clack?)

 

There's the Dr Zorba show or whatever where you can call in and talk to these two medical guys about stuff

 

there's the Calling All Pets show where you can listen and call/write in about your pets (to find out why your dog is pooping in one square of the carpet on Thursdays or something lol)

 

There's "All Things Considered" which has a lot of different stories that are fantastic (some are boring, I'll admit...most are worth listening to)

 

There's some Canadian shows from CBC that are pretty damn good and sometmes damn funny...there's BBC stuff once in a while (momma and I love it when they start announcing cricket and soccer scores in their heavily brit accented fast-talk lol).

 

 

 

 

 

ANYWAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

please do yourself a favor and have an open mind...and just LISTEN to some of the things that get posted here...and write about what you've heard.

 

Not everything will be political. In fact, most of the stuff i hear is NOT political at all...they are stories about humans and human nature. Sometimes it is about a jazz great who died, sometimes it is about a black man who was shipwrecked in Iceland and the Icelanders tried to scrub the black off his skin...sometimes it is about a funny but sorta crazy fundamentalist in the UK who wants to declare fatwah on everyone for any reason lol, sometimes it is...its just good stuff.

 

If you are old enough to remember Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story", then you will really appreciate most of the things you hear on NPR.

 

 

 

 

The great thing is, you don't have to be in a car or have a regular radio...NPR and their affiliates most of the time now put their shows on the web also, and we use either WIndows Media or Winamp to listen to shows that we missed...or shows that we were listening to but got cut off cuz we had to go to a hockey game, or we couldn't sit in the driveway listening to the rest of the story etc lol.

 

 

I'll start the next post with a couple of stories, and you can listen in and decide what you think.

 

Some stuff will really make you think...some stuff might really make you mad...some will really make you want to cry...but in my opinion, and momma's opinion (she's too afraid to post about this because she thinks no one will even give it a listen to see what it is about), it's worth listening to once in a while.

 

We've converted (maybe converted is a bad word...got people interested is better) so many people just by having them listen to a couple of things that they now call us up and yell at us because their radios are now tuned to NPR on the way to and from work etc lol.

 

anyway, just give a listen, and post some feedback. Keep it within forum rules (no flaming please).

 

As you begin to listen more, you will find stories that you thought were fantastic and you want others to hear them too, so post them!

[Angry_Games]

 

AT&T Alters Privacy Policy

 

Listen to this story... by Larry Abramson

 

All Things Considered, June 22, 2006 · AT&T is changing its privacy policy, to show that some customer information belongs to AT&T. Privacy advocates say the company is trying to protect itself against future lawsuits for helping government eavesdroppers. But AT&T says it simply updated its policy to reflect technological changes, and its recent merger.

 

Here's something you should listen to if you are an AT&T phone/broadband customer

 

(click the blue link in the quote...it works in Real Player and Winamp)

[soundx98]

I'm a die-Hard NPR fan. Especially "All things Considered" and "Wait, Wait, Don't tell me".

Personally, I think it's a little left of center, but so am I

Howard and NPR - like two peas in a pod

[Angry_Games]

ps: here's a good one I listened to a little while ago

 

it's about the popular site "YouTube" that you watch all kinds of those crazy videos on:

 

Viral Video and the Rise of YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

 

and here's an interesting one for you high schoolers about to graduate:

 

Job Prospects For High School Grads

 

 

 

 

and finally...here's a one that talks about how hand-written Thank You notes are still the best way to go

 

In Wired World, Handwritten 'Thank You' Still Tops

[Angry_Games]

I'm a die-Hard NPR fan. Especially "All things Considered" and "No, No, Don't tell me".

Personally, I think it's a little left of center, but so am I

Howard and NPR - like two peas in a pod

I used to think of it as left also...but the more I have listened...the more I don't believe there is any left or right or center...it is just a really good situation where they have real stories without all of the fluff that network tv has.

 

I've heard plenty of left-slanted political stuff on NPR, and at the same time I've heard plenty of right-slanted views on NPR also.

 

 

my favorite show is the Ira Flatow's Science Friday...I've heard some pretty awesome stuff on that show...

 

All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, the other one that is like 3 angry African Americans (can't remember the name but they get all worked up but not in a nasty way haha), etc...all excellent shows.

 

Not always going to have a story that is interesting...I'll grant that...but everyday there's something worth listening to

[Spyvie]

I’ve been listening to NPR for years as well. My favorite show has to be Science Fridays, I also really like the Car Guys and Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me on Saturdays, not to mention All Things Considered every weekday. Heck I even listen to the Diane Reams show, as long as her guest isn’t some woman who’s written a book about her mother. (it frequently is)

 

While I agree that there is no better source of news, information and intelligent discourse in all electronic media, I have to disagree about their political slant. IMHO, NPR does lean towards center left.

 

BTW, Rush Limbaugh is one of the few people in this world I would wish physical harm upon.

 

EDIT: more posts while I was typing, I wondered when someone was gunna mention Science Friday.

[CopyNinjaKakash]

Yeah! i was raised in my earlier years (im still young) with listening to NPR damn near everyday because both my parents like it, i still listen to it if there is something good on. But they dont listen to it as much anymore.

[Spyvie]

Juan Williams, senior corespondent for NPR, is a regular on Fox News.

 

Pointless Edit: For years I have been amusing my freinds with a humorous vocal impersonation of Diane Reams.

 

Second Piontless Edit: I'm a Western Libertarian, but I used to be the network admin for the chairman of the DNC and the Governor of Colorado (I know libs very well)

[Angry_Games]

well, this thread is for discussion. My own political slant is probably dead-center so I don't feel that NPR is slanted one way or another (though i suppose i could admit that it MIGHT be SLIGHTLY left lol...but I would never admit that in public...DAMN I JUST DID GRRRR)

 

but I honestly don't listen to it for any political crap (even though probably a third of the talking is about political/news oriented)

 

same as I don't watch PBS for any left or right slant...I watch PBS for nature shows and Sesame Street (dudes...I still LOVE LOVE LOVE Sesame Street!!!)

 

 

I just like NPR's style of no screaming and yelling and insulting...that's the difference between it and regular talk radio that is political in nature...I guess liberals just don't need to scream (though if you listen to Air America, which is 100% Left liberal, they scream just like Rush and his right-wingers)

 

 

when I think of NPR...I think of the great shows like Science Friday, Car Talk, Calling All Pets, and many many others. The ones from the Canadian show are pretty funny and good in content usually too.

 

I listen maybe 1-2 hours a day depending on what I am doing...momma listens probably 4+ hours a day while she's working out, showering, cooking, on the computer, etc.

[Guest Blooz1]

I'm a shameless NPR fanatic!

 

In addition to the shows already mentioned, I love the stuff on the weekends, such as "Studio 360" and "Secret Kitchens" (when you can catch that one!) I even wind up listening to "Prairie Home Companion" a lot of times! Some great pickin' on there from obscure bands!

 

Did you guys know that Tom + Ray from "Car Talk" both hold degrees from MIT? Tom, the older one, also has a doctorate in marketing! Not exactly what they make themselves out to be on their show!

[Angry_Games]

thats why i love click n clack so much...they are MIT nerds but they act like goofy idiots all the time lol (like most of us!)

[calvintang]

Stuff you wouldn't believe you would hear...stuff that would make you cry, stuff that makes you angry, stuff that makes you laugh, stuff that makes you think.

 

is it safe to drive in a emotional state?