“I listen to NPR to pick up hot chicks.”
I always imagined this comical response to the question “Why do you love National Public Radio?” to come from a wide eyed and pony-tailed senior or graduate student college guy who hangs out in hip coffeehouses, wears chunky sweaters and loves expensive Belgian brewed ales, making sushi, talking of philosophy and long walks on the beach.
Like this caricature, who can listen to and personally gain something from NPR, millions of others do every single day.
Although I was unable to see the exhibition, I was able to hear the sounds of the installations and attendees reactions to artist Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle show at the Guggenheim because of All Things Considered.
Whether it be the early Saturday antics of the “Oddly Informative News Quiz” Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! or the breath of Fresh Air with Terry Gross, National Public Radio is always there for fantastic up to the minute news or interesting and lively programming.
Do you value intelligent radio? Throngs of people in our area appreciate NPR for its excellence and showed their support to WETS FM, now in their 30th year, by attending a public lecture given by the one and only Bob Edwards of Morning Edition.
Asking over an hour of questions Monday evening in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium, these eager listeners gave the voice of morning radio a warm welcome to Johnson City as he spoke about current events, the workings of America’s most popular morning program and politics, most memorably commenting “I think he’s trippin,” when asked about Ralph Nader.
According to Edwards, morning radio on NPR is the most popular morning show in the nation, in radio and television combined.
This is proof of its great coverage of world events with which it has been honored over 57 awards. Just recently, NPR News was awarded the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award’s Silver Baton for its distinguished coverage of the war in Iraq, which was given recognition because of its clarity of vision and excellence in execution.
“We enjoy the programming,” said Roz Louis, of her and her husband’s fascination with NPR. Roz and John Louis both discovered the wonders of National Public Radio at the tender age of thirteen, and it was then that the whole world seemed more available to them.
John described his discovery of great radio as something positive that occurred in his early teenage years and similarly for Roz, a medical student graduating in May, NPR opened her eyes to world events at an early age. “At thirteen, NPR made me a knowledgeable world citizen,” she said with a smile.
Whether they want to pick up hot chicks, or simply enjoy its worthy programming while simultaneously enriching their intellect, radio host Bob Edwards expressed his feeling that public radio is beneficial to those of the younger generation. “A lot of young people want to learn things. Surprise. Who knew?” he said with a shrug of the shoulders as the audience chuckled.
Edwards feels comfortable in handing the baton to the younger reporters when those of his generation are gone. Noting their enthusiasm and sharp reporting skills he said, “We’ll leave a legacy and they can join it.”
I was disappointed that there weren’t more young people that attended the event. Perhaps there were more non-students in attendance because the event was originally intended for members of WETS.
Nevertheless, it is important even for young college students to support their local NPR member station, especially if they indulge in the rich broadcasting on a daily or even weekly basis.
For the young, secure or insecure college student, listening to National Public Radio can be a way to make an effort to stay on top of world news, the arts, entertainment and politics.
For those that fall into the category of “I listen to NPR to pick up hot chicks,” it won’t be until grad school that they reveal to a close friend over $3 beers that they never really had any ideas of their own – that they all came from NPR.
That would be an unfortunate circumstance, as NPR encourages one to have their own ideas, and to consider and intellectualize the material presented on the air. “That’s what we’re about. The discussion, the debate, the dialogue,” said Edwards of National Public Radio’s identity.
NPR certainly does engage in a wonderful dialogue in which the same topic gets a range of treatments.
A number of commentaries concerning the conclusion of the HBO Original series Sex and the City were recently aired. In one piece aired February 21, Scott Simon of Weekend Edition said that the show “has always used sex as a come-on, but maybe it’s always been about four women who find their love for New York and for each other more compelling than most any man they have ever spent a night with.”
On Feb. 6, NPR’s Lynn Neary conducted an interview with TV critic Lee Siegel about the show, during which he said that Carrie Bradshaw should “take a vacation somewhere in a preferably not so fashionable place, maybe go to graduate school and get her Master’s in social work.”
During the final days of winter, while it is cold outside, make it warm inside and engage in some intellectual stimulation, cozying up to the sounds of comforting radio voices such as Bob Edwards and Terry Gross among others.
Listen to WETS FM our local NPR member station, have a little Blues Before Sunrise or Wayne Winkler with your hot cocoa or tea and you’ll be a changed person in no time.

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