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NPR's 404 Page

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Re: NPR's 404 Page

#21

Post by gruseom »

baconbritches wrote: post #17
aroon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

please don't forget Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Greatest news quiz show ever.

You forgot the best one... this american life

That's PRI not NPR, which is relevant because NPR famously rejected the show (then had to license it from PRI because it's so good).

I once heard Ira Glass talking about why he didn't make it on NPR... he was hosting the national phone-in show for a few months, and they would have expert panels discussing things like the Cold War. One day, some national security expert -- evidently trying to play the folksy card -- responded to a question by saying, "Well, it's like my grandmother says, blah blah blah". Glass' immediate instinct was to say, "Oh really? Tell me more about your grandmother!" He always wanted to go for the marginal, overlooked thing. I love that story.

One other point before I get off this NPR binge: has anyone else noticed that Ira Glass' vocal mannerisms have been picked up by the new generation of NPR journalists? This is really annoying. It's like a whole generation of singers imitating Bob Dylan. Listen, people: it was cool when he did it; you are making asses of yourselves. The worst offenders are the people on that "Planet Money" team; I can hardly listen to them. Ok, rant over.

Re: NPR's 404 Page

#23

Post by mqt »

gruseom wrote: post #21
baconbritches wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the best one... this american life

That's PRI not NPR, which is relevant because NPR famously rejected the show (then had to license it from PRI because it's so good). I once heard Ira Glass talking about why he didn't make it on NPR... he was hosting the national phone-in show for a few months, and they would have expert panels discussing things like the Cold War. One day, some national security expert -- evidently trying to play the folksy card -- r…

TAL is actually produced by Chicago Public Radio and distributed by Public Radio International.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_american_life

Re: NPR's 404 Page

#24

Post by iamwil »

gruseom wrote: post #21
baconbritches wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the best one... this american life

That's PRI not NPR, which is relevant because NPR famously rejected the show (then had to license it from PRI because it's so good). I once heard Ira Glass talking about why he didn't make it on NPR... he was hosting the national phone-in show for a few months, and they would have expert panels discussing things like the Cold War. One day, some national security expert -- evidently trying to play the folksy card -- r…

Which is funny because Ira Glass specifically warns against that. Talk like yourself. But then again, maybe we imitate masters to learn before we figure out which ones of the things we're imitating are right, and which are just effects we're cargo culting.

Re: NPR's 404 Page

#25

Post by yumraj »

markbao wrote: post #2

NPR is the best thing that has happened to radio and media. All Things Considered, Fresh Air, On Point, and Car Talk are some of the best programs on radio.

I'll throw in my favorites: Forum and Marketplace.

Kai Ryssdal has to be one of the best financial news persons, with his rather interesting sarcasm that he uses very effectively.

Re: NPR's 404 Page

#26

Post by leviathant »

gruseom wrote: post #21
baconbritches wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the best one... this american life

That's PRI not NPR, which is relevant because NPR famously rejected the show (then had to license it from PRI because it's so good). I once heard Ira Glass talking about why he didn't make it on NPR... he was hosting the national phone-in show for a few months, and they would have expert panels discussing things like the Cold War. One day, some national security expert -- evidently trying to play the folksy card -- r…

Though he's certainly the most oft-imitated, it's not just Ira Glass who's mannerisms have been copied. The folks on Marketplace all sound alike - even the women sound like Kai Ryssdal. Additionally, the very odd cadences of Robin Bloom on WHYY have caught on to some degree amongst other voices on NPR.

Re: NPR's 404 Page

#28

Post by mhb »

gojomo wrote: post #9
ehsanul wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm wondering why my comment downmodded; I'd like to know in what way I may have violated community guidelines, so I don't again. I suppose my comment was not useful, is that it?

Yes. Only you know why you hadn't seen the coverage of the lost Apollo tapes. So, your comment was about as useful to the conversation as, "where oh where did I put my car keys?"

If his question were taken literally, then that might be a good explanation. But it seems pretty obvious that he is asking why it isn't more widely known that something so important was lost.

Two potentially instructive responses might be "The lost Apollo 11 tapes have been all over the news and everyone except you knows about them" or "NASA only recently admitted this embarrassing fact and it was released on Sunday morning to minimize media coverage."

Re: NPR's 404 Page

#30

Post by gojomo »

mhb wrote: post #28
gojomo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Only you know why you hadn't seen the coverage of the lost Apollo tapes. So, your comment was about as useful to the conversation as, "where oh where did I put my car keys?"

If his question were taken literally, then that might be a good explanation. But it seems pretty obvious that he is asking why it isn't more widely known that something so important was lost. Two potentially instructive responses might be "The lost Apollo 11 tapes have been all over the news and everyone except you knows about them" or "NASA only recently admitted this embarrassing fact and it was released on Sunday…

BTW, I didn't downvote until his comment was briefly at +2; it wasn't a bad comment, just a vague/rhetorical/possibly-paranoid comment I wouldn't want to encourage.

If he had clarified that he was wondering why it hadn't gotten more coverage, I would have pointed out I remembered a bunch of coverage a few years ago -- coverage that even yielded a Wikipedia article, " rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes>, with a 3+ year edit history.

Instead, he seemed genuinely interested in why someone would have disliked his comment, so I gave a likely answer.

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