List?

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Wed, 3 Nov 2021 00:33:26 -0400, A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com> said:

> I'm in my 70s now, too.  I tend to listen to radio mostly in my car.  I 
> listen to WCRB or WBUR and WGBH, depending on my mood.  I also listen to 
> WATD.

I used to listen to broadcast and satellite radio a lot in my car,
when that was the only form of audio readily available, but I've
largely been listing to podcasts -- which are _the_ platform for
spoken-word radio these days -- for the last few years.  Since the
pandemic has cut down on both commuting and driving more generally,
that's meant that I have fewer and fewer "unprogrammed" listening
hours where I might put on a broadcast station (usually WXRV or WERS)
outside of the summer months when many shows go on hiatus or reruns.

My current podcast subscriptions haven't changed much in four or
five years, modulo a few shows that I unsubscribed when they ended
production or went commercial.  This list keeps me occupied for at
least an hour a day, three days a week:

* Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 (weekly, rotates every 6 weeks,
  partial hiatus in August)
  * currently The Now Show, rotates with Dead Ringers and The News Quiz

* More or Less from BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service (two separate
  programs, with the shorter World Service one taking over the feed
  when the half-hour Radio 4 show is between series) (weekly)

* The Kitchen Cabinet from BBC Radio 4 (alternates 6-week series with
  something else that I don't subscribe to)

* Ideas from CBC Radio 1 (weekdays, but most episodes air 2-3 times
  during the year, so about 50% reruns, and some broadcast episodes do
  not make it to the podcast feed due to rights issues)

* Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio 1 (weekly, hiatus from Canada Day
  to Labor Day)

* On the Media from WNYC (weekly hour plus a weekly "extra")

* Radiolab from WNYC (weekly? most of the time?)

* The Memory Palace from Radiotopia (the writer/voice talent/producer,
  Nate DiMeo, is a former Rhode Islander who used to work at one of
  the LA public radio factories) (semimonthly with occasional reruns,
  program description is intentionally vague because he wants the
  audience to come into it cold)

* Gastropod, independent but now distributed by Vox Media
  (semimonthly)

Having listened for a decade or more, I am of the opinion that OTM and
Radiolab have both lost quite a bit of focus since 2015, but they're
still occasionally interesting enough to listen to the intro before
deciding to hit the "next" button.  (The current Radiolab mini-series
on audiotape has been quite interesting -- the most recent installment
was about Bing Crosby switching from live to transcription to tape
with some never-before-broadcast archival audio from the Crosby family
archives.)

Other than The Memory Palace and Gastropod, all of the rest are
released for broadcast through traditional radio distribution
channels.  Radiotopia is part of PRX, which is one of the major
distributors of programs to public radio, but the production style of
TMP (variable length, no midroll spot breaks) makes it a poor fit for
US broadcast schedules.

If the BBC had a feed for Radio 4's Monday night comedy slot I'd
probably subscribe to it.  (Maybe they do now; I haven't checked in a
while!  Monday nights get the more traditional light entertainment,
mostly panel games, whereas Fridays are always topical satire.)

-GAWollman