Breakup

[tealin]

Dear National Public Radio,


We go way back, you and me. I grew up with you. You were by my bedside every morning and waiting for me when I got home from school, you rode in the front seat of my dad's car, and as I got older I fell in love with your in-depth news and analysis, clever hosts, interesting subject matter, and how late at night, on the frequency that was harder to get, you turned into the exotic and alluring BBC World Service. You were my link to the outside world, my voice of moderation in a vehemently conservative Republican house and state, my community of intellectuals, my teacher. When I moved to Canada you were the constant I missed most. Saturdays didn't feel like Saturdays without Car Talk, and what is 4:00 without the All Things Considered theme? I turned to the CBC as a surrogate but it had an alien schedule and an irritating morning show.

Well, time passed, I settled in, and grew to love my new home and its indigenous public radio (though I never got to like the morning show). Then one day I was introduced to BBC Radio 4 and fell head-over-heels in love, finding at last a radio station which recaptured the things about you that I knew and loved, and then some. The world of Radio was the mollusk of my choice! I have to admit I almost forgot about you ... but before too long I had the opportunity to come work in the States. Hooray, I thought! NPR and me, reunited at last! The long years apart will be as naught! Imagine my shock when, shortly after rejoicing at your familiar voice, I realized that you were not the NPR I left behind.

My dear public radio, I am sorely disappointed. In this time of ubiquitous polarization, you could have been the voice crying out in the wilderness of the middle ground. But no, you have joined the mob, you have picked your team, you are playing into the game of divisiveness and rancour. Were you always like this, and I never noticed? I can believe a certain perpetual liberal bias, as you are run by intellectuals and intellectuals' political 'centre' tends to be left of the average American's, but I find it hard to imagine you were always like this. I remember documentaries. I remember learning the historical background of current events. I remember exploring places and societies in the U.S. and abroad in pieces that exemplified 'theatre of the mind.' But you have abandoned documentation for commentary; you are so fascinated by your own insights that you neglect reportage and disallow your audience to make up their own minds. It's one self-congratulatory opinion after another, interrupted by mutually congratulatory interviews between enlightened intelligentsia. You are unrelentingly, unashamedly, and unrepentantly liberal – and that's coming from a Canadian. I like liberal if it means an open-minded investigation of new intellectual territory, but your liberality is veering on exclusivity and provocation; liberality for the sake of liberality rather than any higher end.

So there you have it. I can't do this any more. We can still be friends: I'll keep listening to Morning Edition, which is the least changed of your regular programming, if you keep giving me headlines at the top of the hour. I respect you for your large vocabulary and catering to that neglected slice of America who do actually like smart media. But we can never be as we once were, you murmuring in my ear and me following you wherever you went.

With sincere regret,

      Tealin

P.S. KPCC: Did you not just have a pledge drive in March? What is up? You're still in my good books for playing As It Happens and seriously disrupting my sense of place but seriously...

Comments

[amyofcanada.livejournal.com]

Hello Tealin,

I've been following your blog for a couple of years now (ever since I searched for good-quality Harry Potter art and stumbled onto it). I never know what interesting insights, artwork, and links I will find here.

So I've created a livejournal account because I wanted to ask you, which one is the "irritating morning show" on CBC? I live near Vancouver, and I generally enjoy listening to CBC 1 and 2. Anyway, I'm curious to know what show and why it's irritating.

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with NPR, and from the sounds of it, now is not the best time to start tuning in...

[pippins-nose.livejournal.com]

oh noes! TEALIN/PUBLIC RADIO WAS MAH OTP ;__;

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

The Early Edition. Sounds waaaaaaay too much like a commercial morning show. I want news in the morning, not affable hosts and chirpy correspondants talking about the home and garden show or a new social program for people born with two left ears. The closest it got to news was not being able to SHUT UP about Robert Djekasnki. Yes it was sad! Yes it's an indictment against the RCMP! Do we have to hear about it every bloody morning for a month and a half?? Aaaagh!

[mariahgem.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. My ex was in LOVE with NPR, and I got very sick of endless hours of someone trying to ram their ideas down my throat rather than presenting them in any sort of fair or balanced way.

PLEASE tell me you actually sent them this letter!!

[phonixa.livejournal.com]

I think I grew up listening to utter crap and it has melted my mind. FM radio does that to you.

... when i heard my first radio play, i was 9, it was christmas eve and the lights went out and the radio weirdly went to a radio play. Scared the beejeezus out of me. I thought i had gone back in time.

Seriously. FM RADIO ROTTED MY BRAIN.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

NPR is FM. So is BBC Radio 4 (though not on this continent, of course). Most CBC stations are FM too. (CBC Vancouver is actually looking into going FM, which naturally they do after I leave.) It has better sound quality and, I think, reception. One of my favourite terms is 'FM PhD' ... that's me, baby; I don't got no college degree but I knows LOTSA stuff thanks to der radio. It's just a matter of which frequency you dial in to...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Umm... I'm a little too non-confrontational for that, at least at the moment ... I kinda want to see if this ends up getting there regardless. :)

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Forgot to add: that is a freakin' awesome introduction to the cool side of radio.

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

My local NPR station eliminated several programs from its schedule during the past year that I dearly loved. I don't give them any more money. I suppose I should write and tell them why. I will say that they did leave some that I liked, and also finally brought back "Thistle and Shamrock", but I understand what you are saying about the NPR news reporting. It's a bit discouraging, but I suppose that they are trying to act as some kind of opposition to Fox News, which is obviously conservative in outlook. However, many of their "reporters" and "talk show hosts" shout a lot, so even if I was conservative, I couldn't put up with that. Or the blondes who dress in a non-professional fashion. :(

[jesskat.livejournal.com]

But RadioLab stills kicks ass, amirite? (I don't know anything about the rest of NPR, but I love that show)

[phonixa.livejournal.com]

LOL; it literally scared the crap out of my brother and I. We were so sure we had gone back in time we were scared to come up Christmas morning.

And lol, I grew up in the interior of BC, so our FM pickings were soft rock stations.

Horrible trite.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

I only listen to non-newsy shows (well, except for 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' and 'Whaddya Know'), so...yeah. Prairie Home Companion is basically the only show I really know about.

I miss when they were re-airing old radio dramas on...er..some radio station. Possibly NPR? I dunno.

[tannhaeuser.livejournal.com]

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

>you are playing into the game of divisiveness and rancour. Were you always like this, and I never noticed?

Yes. They have only become lees blindingly obvious.

I've got nothing against National Proletariat Radio. . . as long as they don't take taxpayer money. If they can live on contributions from corporations and foundations, go for it.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what that is. My FM PhD does not extend to the classics, I'm afraid.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well I know you think so. :) It's the blindingly obvious I'm talking about, though. Kevin and L. both say it's changed a lot in the last seven years in the direction of wacko so I know I'm not imagining things...

[brendanm720.livejournal.com]

The difference between AM and FM is the way that the wave happens.

AM = Amplitude Modulation
FM = Frequency Modulation

AM waves have the same frequency, but different amplitude (the waves are always the same "distance" apart, but not always the same "height"). AM is an old (some would say ancient) technology that is rife with problems when the signal gets weak (pops and cracks, the "bump" noise, et cetera).

FM Waves have the same amplitude, but different frequency (the waves are always the same "height" but aren't always the same "distance" apart). The range is better, and it's cleaner.

I personally think that the main reason that they still have AM stations is that the FCC hasn't gotten around to pulling the frequencies for other uses, and the transmitting equipment is pretty well bulletproof.

[brendanm720.livejournal.com]

I agree; I broke up with NPR a long time ago, though.

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

I have listened to it only sparingly over the past few years. Love Car Talk, the rest, bleah. Dianne Reems? Terri Gross? Daniel Schorr? I can't imagine them being any MORE liberal than they sounded a few years ago. That being said, NPR News' long form news reports are tremendously well produced, always have been.

BTW, according to reports, KCPW is being sold. They have a couple of valuable frequencies I suppose. http://www.kcpw.org/index

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

There is also the line of sight issue. AM has a rather longer reach than FM, making it more available in remote areas for those who do not want to purchase satellite radio.

T. S. Eliot

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

"...Before the stations of the mountain of desolation,
Before the certain hour of maternal sorrow,
Now at this birth season of decease,
Let the Infant, the still unspeaking and unspoken Word,
Grant Israel's consolation
To one who has eighty years and no to-morrow..."

[tony-cliff.livejournal.com]

On the topic of early morning blowhard radio hosts, I've been downloading the Adam Carolla podcast. I thought it would be awful (it came as a recommendation) but it's really not. Adam Carolla is awesome.

I mean, YOU probably wouldn't like it, but he has a wonderfully balanced view of the world. Or perhaps it isn't, and he and I just happen to align properly. Who knows.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I had to dump NPR about five years ago because while I didn't mind the liberal bias, knowing so much about how many shitheads were out there in the world made me too angry. Nice to know I haven't missed all that much. :D

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, I never listened much to Terri Gross as she was on while I was at school, and I don't think the Diane Rehm show started airing in Salt Lake until I moved away. I'm mostly talking about the relative proportions of fact vs commentary in shows like All Things Considered which, correct me if I'm wrong, is a news show?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the liberal bias either, I just wish they'd stop talking so much about their feelings and, I dunno, actually report on something once in a while. I swear they used to do this. Now NPR is like one vast radio blog.

Anyway, when it's a choice between NPR and a combined onslaught of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and political panel shouting matches as it was for most of my childhood, I'll take the soft-spoken intellectual shitheads over the pompous angry narrow-minded shitheads any day. :)

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I think it's been that way for a while, with the exception of like...Car Talk and Garrison Keillor. :D

I get so much political punditry in an average week, you would not believe. It's pretty much all R watches and I'm torn between gentle tolerance, because I do learn some stuff, and wanting to ask him if he really can take these assholes seriously.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

All I can say is: WORD.

Part of the trouble with the people that run NPR is that they are an intellectual monoculture---one that they share, unfortunately, with the majority of those who man the mainstream media here. I don't like intellectual monocultures. I don't even like them when I agree with them---I've known libertarians whom I ended up blowing off because they never, ever seemed to even try to make an effort to understand where non-libertarians are coming from---they'd rather deal with non-libs as though they were characters from Atlas Shrugged or an L. Neil Smith novel/rant.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I used to like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me until I found The News Quiz (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/newsquiz.shtml), which is like Wait Wait ON STEROIDS. In fact all of Radio 4 is like NPR on steroids.

Radio 4 ... I think I love you.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Let me first say I understand and respect your opinion very much, but I must add that at first read-through I thought you said 'librarian' for 'libertarian and it was very funny (but also probably true). :D

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

Aha, but does The News Quiz have Paula Poundstone?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

It has a Sandi Toksvig and sometimes even a Sue Perkins, who can both kick Paula Poundstone's butt. Just listen! If you don't like it it's only half an hour lost.

[ceilonar.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree about Djekanski. It shouldn't go unmentioned, but it seems I hear that name whenever something even remotely touching the subject of Tasers comes up. Which is too often, really.

I'll stop pretending to be smart now.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

What does Christmas have to do with anything?

[anathelen.livejournal.com]

The DC NPR station out here on the east coast used to have great weekend programs - Car Talk on Saturday mornings, Hot Jazz Saturday Nights from 7 to 10 on Saturday nights, then Stained Grass Blue Grass Sunday mornings, followed by The Ray Davis Show and American Roots. Now all they play is Diane Reams, Prairie Home Companion, and talk programs. Now, I like Garrison Keeler well enough, and he had a good thing going in his previous time slot, but when they replace Hot Jazz with him, and the Sunday bluegrass shows with a talk program, and Wait Wait with ANOTHER talk program, I start to get pissed. So, yes, I as well have broken up with NPR. It is sad. I miss those shows a lot.

[brendanm720.livejournal.com]

I'd completely forgotten about that.

My appologies... It's been about a decade since I learned this, and I haven't done a whole lot with it since.

If I recall correctly, AM does better than FM in non-line-of-sight situations -- and has a longer reach -- because AM operates on a lower set of frequencies than FM does. I'm fairly certain that if AM and FM ran on the same frequencies, the range and ability to burn through foliage would be roughly comparable.

This extends to things like cordless phones and wireless Internet, as well. (There are, of course, other variables like antenna size and amplifier strength, but 900MHz always seems to go further than 2.4Ghz, and 2.4Ghz always seems to outdistance 5.4/5.7/5.8.)

[(Anonymous)]

You should send that... I use to constantly tune in to the NPR.. It use to be the greatest thing since sliced bread to me.. But it's gone down hill.. :(

[missuscarroll.livejournal.com]

RadioLab is awesome. So is Writer's Almanac, and Storycorps, and A Prairie Home Companion. I think I listen to NPR for enlightenment more than news.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I have never even heard of RadioLab, nor Storycorps, and only listened to Writer's Almanac ages ago. I used to turn to NPR for enlightenment but that was when they actually talked about stuff, rather than what they thought about stuff. It's hard to find enlightenment when you have to sift the emotional baggage out of the facts. I'm not just looking for news, I'm looking for factual programming of all stripes, be it current events, history, or a documentary on mud-brick makers in Mali, but the never-ending self-important opinions are getting me down.

[missuscarroll.livejournal.com]

I only listen to it in the morning [also in my dad's car], so I suppose I'm not so disillusioned.

I definitely recommend RadioLab, though. It's actually from WNYC, if that makes any difference.

Sleep - http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2007/05/25

or

Musical Language - http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/04/21

would be great episodes to start with.

Apropos of nothing...

[(Anonymous)]

Have you seen this? The creator has used about fifteen of your old HP drawings (and the French-Canadian vampires), plus various clipart and Monty Python stills, and put them to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Specifically "By Jeeves".
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h__IYJ6bAlg