Ode to NPR

"I can name that voice in 5 words," I say out loud to myself while listening to National Public Radio.

"And, tonight we take you..."

"Ooooh, oooh; I know, I know - it's Eleanor Beardsley of NPR's Marketplace!" I scream. A cute guy in the car next to me looks at me as if I'm a complete dork. Could he be right?

Robert Siegel, Corey Flintoff, Peter Overby, Andrea Seabrook, Liane Hansen, Will Shortz, Daniel Schorr, Melissa Block, Steve Inskeep, Tess Vigeland, and of course, Carl Kassell: the list is as long as the length of time I've been listening to NPR and American Public Media. These voices have permeated my airwaves for 20 years - a torrid love affair that began when I first answered a historic, folkloric and occassionally interesting puzzler on Car Talk with Tom and Ray Magliozzi. I own the shameless commerce merchandise, download the podcasts, buy the books and even judge my friends by their car radio presets. If one of their dials isn't set to their local NPR affiliate, someone's getting a lecture.

I'm not the only one who enjoys this nation's premier public radio producers. 14.7 million people listen to news and commentary each week about stories of profound joy, sadness, despair and courage to arts, entertainment and music reviews to in-depth reporting on public affairs, politics, business and economics. This is intellectual and trustworthy programming at it's finest, owned by the people who listen and contribute, unlike the monolithic bias of corporate owned media and radio shows that pander to the prejudices of listeners.