NPR left me...
-
Like this author, I was delighted to listen to NPR when I worked downtown. I would spend 45 minutes driving to work, and about an hour coming home. All those programs that he mentioned were great.
But @LuFins-Dad is absolutely right. The change came much, much earlier than that.
With my short (15 commute), I would only listen to NPR for a bit, and by 1992, it was obvious that things had gone in a very different direction.
And then, I started listening to audiobooks - a much better use of my time.
-
Couple of things:
- I don't know why, but I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I listened to Ira Glass's This American Life for the last time. That entire show has become a joke, exactly as he describes it.
- This is exactly what needs to happen. People who stopped drinking the Kool-Aid need to share their new sources of information and discussion. And it's got to be done publicly.
- You know which liberals completely get away with the above? Who always get a free pass to formulate their own conclusions, even among most of the lefties? Another subgroup in the woke pantheon, the "neurodivergents." Those folks can say whatever the hell they like. And what's more, you can agree with them publicly! It appears to the uneducated lefty like you're being patronizing, when really you're just having a discussion. It's excellent.
-
@LuFins-Dad said in NPR left me...:
@Jolly said in NPR left me...:
An interesting essay...
What I found interesting is that he’s still an annoying and self-important dipshit. NPR, The Times, The Atlantic, et al didn’t change 2 years ago, they changed decades ago. The problem was he didn’t recognize it then and he still doesn’t recognize it now. Stephen Colbert as a satirist that attacked all sides? Dip-shit…
Everyone's got their thresholds. I'm not going to criticize him for being late to the party, especially since it's obvious he doesn't have a huge amount of media literacy.
...This is a nitpick but fuck it, this is the corner of the internet for that: I don't like when these things are called "essays." They're articles, Unherd, they're articles. Essays are attempts. It's an author having a public wrestling match with ideas that are ideally a little bit beyond him, and from foundations of observation, he over-extends and tries to point to where he thinks the truth lies. Those are the best essays, and the point of the genre. This guy ain't Montaigne.
-
To address another point he makes: the so-called "comedians" of today.
(old fart rant here; watch me shake my fist at the sky)
All these late-night asshats are turning people like me off as well. It's way past my bedtime, of course, but if I wanted to be lectured by a talk-show host at bedtime, I'd ... well, I don't know what I'd do.
ENTERTAIN ME, FFS. Be funny, be cordial, be current. But don't f'ing preach at me. All you guys come off as self-centered arrogant elites.
(shakes fist again)
The likes of Carson, Cavett, Leno never did that shit. Even Fallon didn't, in the beginning. Letterman was always nasty, but he was funny, at least.
With the rise of the likes of Jon (clown-nose on/clown-nose off) Stewart, "comedy" became preachy, and therefore not funny any more.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
-
Now that I work from home, I would usually listen to NPR (which used to be my commute staple) as I enjoyed the relatively ad-free experience, as well as a thoughtful mostly-balanced (fact focused) approach to the news and the stories. That being said, since then I listen to a few podcasts (such as This American Life) whenever I can and still enjoy them. However... anytime they do a rerun of a previous show (sometimes from the 90s) it's pretty stark how the content narratives have shifted.
-
@LuFins-Dad said in NPR left me...:
What I found interesting is that he’s still an annoying and self-important dipshit. NPR, The Times, The Atlantic, et al didn’t change 2 years ago, they changed decades ago. The problem was he didn’t recognize it then and he still doesn’t recognize it now.
It was transparently left by the time I started listening in the early 90s. But it went identitarian in the past few years, it started before George Floyd and only accelerated since. Now its almost a caricature of itself.
The only show I'll listen to is a local one on WNYC for 2hrs a day. And half the time his is too much. I stopped being a member many years ago.
-
@jon-nyc said in NPR left me...:
The only show I'll listen to is a local one on WNYC for 2hrs a day. And half the time his is too much. I stopped being a member many years ago.
I used to listen so some stuff on WNYC, too. Not very much at all anymore.
-
@George-K said in NPR left me...:
To address another point he makes: the so-called "comedians" of today.
(old fart rant here; watch me shake my fist at the sky)
All these late-night asshats are turning people like me off as well. It's way past my bedtime, of course, but if I wanted to be lectured by a talk-show host at bedtime, I'd ... well, I don't know what I'd do.
ENTERTAIN ME, FFS. Be funny, be cordial, be current. But don't f'ing preach at me. All you guys come off as self-centered arrogant elites.
(shakes fist again)
The likes of Carson, Cavett, Leno never did that shit. Even Fallon didn't, in the beginning. Letterman was always nasty, but he was funny, at least.
With the rise of the likes of Jon (clown-nose on/clown-nose off) Stewart, "comedy" became preachy, and therefore not funny any more.
These shows are terrible, now. I've been watching old Letterman shows on YouTube, and they're hilarious. The whole saga with Conan and Leno, as narrated by Dave, is wonderful.
Also, why are many of these current dickheads British? Is the US even forced to import its dickheads now?
I was only joking
-
@Doctor-Phibes said in NPR left me...:
@George-K said in NPR left me...:
To address another point he makes: the so-called "comedians" of today.
(old fart rant here; watch me shake my fist at the sky)
All these late-night asshats are turning people like me off as well. It's way past my bedtime, of course, but if I wanted to be lectured by a talk-show host at bedtime, I'd ... well, I don't know what I'd do.
ENTERTAIN ME, FFS. Be funny, be cordial, be current. But don't f'ing preach at me. All you guys come off as self-centered arrogant elites.
(shakes fist again)
The likes of Carson, Cavett, Leno never did that shit. Even Fallon didn't, in the beginning. Letterman was always nasty, but he was funny, at least.
With the rise of the likes of Jon (clown-nose on/clown-nose off) Stewart, "comedy" became preachy, and therefore not funny any more.
These shows are terrible, now. I've been watching old Letterman shows on YouTube, and they're hilarious. The whole saga with Conan and Leno, as narrated by Dave, is wonderful.
Also, why are many of these current dickheads British? Is the US even forced to import its dickheads now?
Because part of American culture is to romanticize British accents as sophisticated and intelligent. I believe it really is that simple. There are a ton of British accents at the upper echelons of the company I work at, and I fully believe that is because the owner of the company has a fetish for the accent.
Education is extremely important.
-
@Horace said in NPR left me...:
Because part of American culture is to romanticize British accents as sophisticated and intelligent.
John Oliver is from freaking Birmingham
How bad does it have to get for people to think that a Brummie sounds sophisticated and intelligent?
I was only joking
-
@Doctor-Phibes said in NPR left me...:
@Horace said in NPR left me...:
Because part of American culture is to romanticize British accents as sophisticated and intelligent.
John Oliver is from freaking Birmingham
How bad does it have to get for people to think that a Brummie sounds sophisticated and intelligent?
In Australia, because I didn't sound like I was from Texas, everyone assumed I was from Canada.
Furriners are bad at placing regional accents.
Please love yourself.
-
@Aqua-Letifer said in NPR left me...:
Furriners are bad at placing regional accents.
I've been confused for South African, Irish, and Australian. Canadians were even worse at placing my accent than the yanks are.
-
The final nail in the coffin happened for me yesterday. I was listening on the way back from some errands and the talk was all about why our reaction to the Ukraine war was racist, because they are white people and why do we care more about that than the African wars. One person talking said it made her realize her unconscious prejudice.
Jesus.
