balmofgilead | (no subject)

I listened to it off and on before that, but never seeking it. I'd flip it on when they would play a lot more classical and I wanted to hear that (KQED used to play a mixture of classical and NPR/PRI, etc., now much less music), or I'd seek out Car Talk after I discovered that.

Now, it's the default on my car radio.

It's on almost constantly in our house now, but we just realized that my mom (and I) didn't start listening to it until the mid/late 90s, and we can't figure out why. I grew up with a lot of classical and sometimes the conservative talk radio station for some reason. So far the best we've come up with is that some people in our community call it "National Palestinian Radio" and won't listen to it, and maybe we were a little influenced by that.

NPR was on *constantly* during my childhood at home (with music saved for the car). Now my folks just turn it on first thing in the morning, but don't listen over dinner. I have it on in the car, on my alarm each morning, and get the podcasts of This American Life -- but don't listen to All Things Considered religiously anymore. I still feel like I know Noah Adams and Michele Norris, though!

You're lucky :) Part of what inspired this poll was my realization that we only started listening to NPR regularly when I was in high school--in middle school the go-to radio station was the conservative talk radio station (the one that airs Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh) for some bizarre reason.

I've been listening to it since I was in the womb. My parents turn it on first thing in the morning and leave it on all day through dinner. I started listening voluntarily in 1992 while I was an intern at TNC in Arlington, VA where I fell in love with WAMU and Diane Rehm.

You win the prize :)

Do I get a Nina Totin' Bag as a prize?

Heh. I'm afraid the only prize is the knowledge that you are lucky enough to have had many more years of listening to NPR than anyone else in the balmofgilead-reading universe.

I keep hearing those bags advertised but hadn't looked at 'em. I find the whole idea pretty hilarious, though in a good way.

I started listening often right on and following 9/11, because the NPR station was the only one on the radio that would provide constant coverage. And then I found that the NPR coverage was so much more thoughtful than what was found on TV. I learned that NPR was the best broadcast source for news. Hearing BBC News on my local station is also a nice change from time to time. And then there a good number of programs I have come to enjoy quite a bit, even if none of them are quite "appointment radio" for me: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me; Fresh Air; Splendid Table; This American Life; a few others.

I'd never heard of Splendid Table. I'll have to check it out.

It's funny that you mention 9/11--for me, one of the strongest memories of the post-9/11 shakeup was that on Sept. 12th, Morning Edition played a more somber version of their usual musical interlude. I've never heard it any other time, and it kind of hit me very strongly.

I think This American Life is the only one that was ever "appointment radio" for me, and that was in high school when a)This American Life still had its edge and b) I didn't have access to the internet archives.