I Heart NPR

I think this is sentiment that most of my friends who read my blog would wholeheartedly agree with. I was first exposed to NPR (or is it PRI?) with This American Life in Dr. P's 2010 course that I took my very first semester of college. I continue to listen to the podcasts today. Of course there was a period when I didn't listen to the podcasts though I continued to subscribe so I had a great avalanche of podcasts that went unlistened to. Last year I got my sister to start listening to TAL and she listens every week. I think that's neat. And then there were periods whilst I lived in Cedar City that I had the radio station in my car set to the public radio station when I was tired of listening to music. Sometime last year I began podcasting PRI's Selected Shorts which is a great program featuring short stories read/performed on stage by well-known actors in NYC. Some weeks are of course better than others depending on the story itself and who is reading it--much of which is determined by individual taste. And recently I started listening to NPR in my car again which is a whole different story. Basically I was listening to the alternative rock station here called 101.9 The End and they had an awesome afternoon show--The Parker Show. And they would review albums the day they came out and play songs from albums that weren't the singles if the singles sucked or they just liked a different song better. They got emerging artists into the studio for interviews and acoustic performances. They played mashups and the cheesy song of the day and it was just really great exposure to new (and old) music. And Parker and Dallan were really great DJs and they were entertaining and sincere and friendly and charismatic. It was basically awesome! And then the station cut the show. It made me really angry and bitter. But I kept listening to the morning show--The Chunga Show--which I mostly hated because I really hate Chunga. I cannot stand the man. But I really like Chelsea and Cort who co-host the show and so I kept listening. And I'm not sure when I decided to skip to NPR or to be more precise my local public radio station (KUER 90.1) since NPR isn't actually a station. And I suddenly realized how I much I really do love NPR. I listen to Morning Edition on my way to work which is always informative. And then Talk of the Nation on my way home which I always gets me thinking. The other day they were talking about education and I wanted to write a whole blog about that, but I was too exhausted. The gist of it was that many colleges are becoming businesses and education is suffering and tuition is just too outrageous and while many of us were always told that college is the key to a successful career that is no longer necessarily true. Anyway, enough about that. I love the British people on The World and I love Salt Lake's own Radio West which is another show that also gets me thinking. They just did one on Doubt: A History about the roles of doubt and belief in society and then another on The Omnivore's Dilemma which made me think a lot more about the food I consume. What I love most about NPR is the breadth and depth of the coverage and that it is there to provide legitimate news. I think local television news is absolute trash the vast majority of the time. It's sensational and exploitative and terrifying--"Could this happen to you?! Tune in tonight to find out!" Every segment is so brief and so produced that I don't think we should really call it news. The other thing about NPR is that it's not talk radio like Hannity or Limbaugh or anyone else who's goal to to polarize and energize the far right or left. I do think NPR is left-leaning but it's still balanced and legitimate. Anyway, I just wanted to share my rediscovered love for NPR which seems to fit with my job as a librarian. I absolutely love the SLC library and downtown Salt Lake. I'm still not really sure what I'm going to be doing or when since I'm a substitute aide. But it'll be an adventure.

I've been listening to a lot of Broadway lately and I came across this video of Judi Dench singing "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music for which she won the Olivier in 1996. I just wanted to post it because it's a beautiful song and while Dame Judi isn't the most talented singer her acting is phenomenal. I hope you enjoy.



I know this blog is bit disjointed and whatnot, but I need to get something up because I haven't written for a little while. More blog posts soon! Hopefully.