Internet radio: too many choices equals none.

November 25, 2010 3:04 PM

I have an internet radio, a good pair of ears, and nostalgia. Help me NPR enthusiasts.

I have an internet radio with an awfully hefty instruction manual, and I get to choose over 14000 radio stations around the world. I live in the Alps and wave radio so to speak is awful, and it's in German or Italian. I want your favourite English language stations, preferably with the exact name that I can feed my radio to look up.
I'm into: books, discussion, news, good talk shows, I like TSA for example and I have to kids so cool stations with cool programs for kids are also something I'm looking for. I know this question has sort of been asked before but I'm not asking about music: I want the talk. I hate Rush Limbaugh. I currently listen to BBC Radio4 all the time. Want some variety.

posted by uauage to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Well, if your Internet radio can play KQED's stream, there's your NPR fix right there.
posted by deadmessenger at 3:16 PM on November 25, 2010

Fresh Air is a great NPR show. I also like This American Life and Stories from 'The Moth'. Check npr.org for how to find them.

CBC has some great shows: As It Happens and And the Winner Is... are two really good shows. CBC.ca is where to find schedules and what-not.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:16 PM on November 25, 2010

Best answer: Public Radio Fan http://www.publicradiofan.com/ will help you find stations and programs all over the world. Some of my favorite programs include

Morning Edition (i)
All Things Considered (i)
Fresh Air (i)
This American Life (i)
Car Talk (i)
Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me (i)
Le Show (i)
World Cafe (i)
Newshour (i)
On Point
The Splendid Table
posted by NorthCoastCafe at 3:31 PM on November 25, 2010 [3 favorites]

My favorite (NPR) radio station is WUNC.It can be found streaming right here! They have a great variety of shows. You will not be disappointed.
posted by jack.tinker at 3:39 PM on November 25, 2010

The World Radio Network has English language feeds from all over Europe (mostly), the same programs one used to (and sometimes still can) hear on shortwave.
posted by JanetLand at 3:52 PM on November 25, 2010

Best answer: For your children: Kids Corner from WXPN, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Airs Monday through Thursday. Kid song, jokes, science, trivia and (important) relatively tolerable for adults.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:07 PM on November 25, 2010

WBOS out of Boston University is an all talk NPR station.

WERS from Emerson (also in Boston) plays great indie/adult contemporary/folk 7 to 7 and reggage after 7 PM (reggae-time means it's time to leave work dear god turn that radio off) during the week and has a Broadway show and a kids show over the weekend. wers.org would have more schedule details.
posted by maryr at 7:27 PM on November 25, 2010

PS: By "all talk" I mean programming like All Things Considered, Marketplace, etc etc, not call-in shows.
posted by maryr at 7:28 PM on November 25, 2010

WAMC out of Albany, NY is a mostly-talk NPR station (All talk during the week, some music on weekend afternoons.) Some of their programming is upstate New York-centric, but in addition to their own stuff they have a pretty good variety of shows produced by NPR/American Public Media, at least one from Canada, and BBC world news.
posted by usonian at 5:18 AM on November 26, 2010

For your kids, the previous mentioned WERS in Boston has the Playground, Saturdays and Sundays 5 to 8 PM ET, playing "the best local, national and international kids artists."
posted by Jasper Fnorde at 7:11 PM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

...That's where I heard the cat song! Best song ever.
posted by maryr at 7:59 PM on November 27, 2010

KPFT, out of Houston, one of four stations in the Pacifica network. Pretty wide net, just about every sort of show you can imagine; I like it because on Saturday morning and all through the afternoon also they've got just can't be beat Texas music, mixed in with other good folk music; it's just the best. So I'm into their music but they've plenty of talk, too, hugely diverse programming.

Following is todays schedule, so you maybe get a sense of it:
2 AM to 5 AM Down the Highway
5 AM to 5:30 AM BBC News
5:30 AM to 6 AM From The Vault
6 AM to 7 AM People of Earth
7 AM to 8 AM BBC Newshour
8 AM to 9 AM Democracy Now!
9 AM to 10 AM Open Journal
10 AM to 1 PM Wide Open Spaces
1 PM to 3 PM Sound Awake
3 PM to 4 PM Earth 101
4 PM to 4:30 PM Free Speech Radio News
4:30 PM to 5 PM KPFT Local News
5 PM to 6 PM Democracy Now! PM
6 PM to 7 PM Explorations
7 PM to 7:30 PM Coming to America
7:30 PM to 8:30 PM Nuestra Palabra
8:30 PM to 9 PM Noticiero KPFT
9 PM to 10 PM Proyecto Latino-Americano
10 PM to 11 PM Son Pacifica
11 PM to 2 AM Reach Out in the Darkness
posted by dancestoblue at 1:55 AM on November 30, 2010