Wednesday, February 13, 2008

With Apologies to Terry Gross

I'm not here to start some skirmish over which public radio station passes muster, especially since I'm particularly fond of WNYC's Soterios Johnson and his dulcet tones (it's pledge time, and it just breaks my heart to hear him beg). Even though it's a tad outside my geographic comfort zone, I rely on KCRW for all things popular. Underdog Wisconsin Public Radio also produces the notable program "To the Best of Our Knowledge".

All things considered, Chicago Public Radio is pretty great--it sponsored perhaps the best show ever, the intellectual collision course that was WBEZ's Odyssey hosted by the resourceful and enlightened Gretchen Helfrich. What a pleasure it was to hear her seamlessly pivot from Walter Benn Michaels to the legacy of Andrea Dworkin (swoon!). Nationally, WBEZ is known for blockbusters This American Life and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, but it has some other shows we could call "indigenous" to Chicago (848, Worldview, and Re:Sound) that I've missed since coming to New York.

The good news-WBEZ now has podcasts available, and it was like Christmas this morning when I found them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"All things considered" opening a sentence of an article on public radio. What double entendre!

Kerri said...

I love WNYC. I am similarly pained by pledge time, though. Sigh. If it weren't so close to the end of the pay period, I might actually donate, but as it stands, the begging just makes me feel sad and guilty.