No more politics!
April 7, 2011 10:55 AM Subscribe
I can't take listening to the news anymore. What else can I listen to in the morning while I get ready for work? Requirements inside.
My entire working-adult life, my routine has been to listen to NPR's Morning Edition while I get ready for work. I can't take it anymore -- it's too depressing. For the first time in my life, I choose to be uninformed, because keeping on top of everything that's happening in the world and all of the political messes here at home just depresses me. Turning on the news in the morning guarantees that I'll be in a foul, crabby, growly mood before leaving the house, and that translates into my being Little Miss Crankypants at work. I want to make a change.
So, here's what it comes down to:
* I like to have background noise when I get ready for work, but I can't stand the sound of the TV that early in the day.
* I don't want music -- I want to hear people talking.
* I don't want to hear the general public talking. Those man-on-the-street interviews are really frustrating to me. If I find myself asking "Why should I care what you think about that," I'm immediately turned off.
* No must-fill-the-airtime banter for me.
* I like to new learn things, or learn more about things I already know something about. History, science, travel, other cultures, food -- these are the kinds of things I want to hear about. I like the NPR stories about these things, but there's just too much other stuff to sit angrily through right now.
* I don't like to hear writers or artists or actors talking about 'their craft.' Just a personal quirk; thought I'd throw it in.
* Local FM radio is right out. NPR is the only broadcast station I'd consider listening to. All the others -- those morning DJs and that awful pop music -- they're even more aggravating.
* I can hook my laptop up to my stereo.
Any suggestions for what I could listen to? Podcasts (sans banter)? Online radio streams from other places? (We're talking between 7 and 8 a.m. West Coast time, for the purposes of live streaming.)
Thank you for making me a happier person.
My entire working-adult life, my routine has been to listen to NPR's Morning Edition while I get ready for work. I can't take it anymore -- it's too depressing. For the first time in my life, I choose to be uninformed, because keeping on top of everything that's happening in the world and all of the political messes here at home just depresses me. Turning on the news in the morning guarantees that I'll be in a foul, crabby, growly mood before leaving the house, and that translates into my being Little Miss Crankypants at work. I want to make a change.
So, here's what it comes down to:
* I like to have background noise when I get ready for work, but I can't stand the sound of the TV that early in the day.
* I don't want music -- I want to hear people talking.
* I don't want to hear the general public talking. Those man-on-the-street interviews are really frustrating to me. If I find myself asking "Why should I care what you think about that," I'm immediately turned off.
* No must-fill-the-airtime banter for me.
* I like to new learn things, or learn more about things I already know something about. History, science, travel, other cultures, food -- these are the kinds of things I want to hear about. I like the NPR stories about these things, but there's just too much other stuff to sit angrily through right now.
* I don't like to hear writers or artists or actors talking about 'their craft.' Just a personal quirk; thought I'd throw it in.
* Local FM radio is right out. NPR is the only broadcast station I'd consider listening to. All the others -- those morning DJs and that awful pop music -- they're even more aggravating.
* I can hook my laptop up to my stereo.
Any suggestions for what I could listen to? Podcasts (sans banter)? Online radio streams from other places? (We're talking between 7 and 8 a.m. West Coast time, for the purposes of live streaming.)
Thank you for making me a happier person.
A good number of NPR shows have podcasts. That's what I listen to in the morning (Planet Money and On Science are my favorites for the morning). This American Life and Radiolab are also amazing.
Although, if you want to avoid being depressed, steer clear of last week's absolutely amazing, yet maddening, This American Life about drug courts.
posted by General Malaise at 10:58 AM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
Although, if you want to avoid being depressed, steer clear of last week's absolutely amazing, yet maddening, This American Life about drug courts.
posted by General Malaise at 10:58 AM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
I like podcasts of the not-directly-news NPR stuff: This American Life, Fresh Air, Science Friday, Radio Lab. Do you like those things?
Otherwise I suggest going through the askMeFi archives looking for podcast recommendations, there are A LOT of them.
posted by brainmouse at 10:58 AM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
Otherwise I suggest going through the askMeFi archives looking for podcast recommendations, there are A LOT of them.
posted by brainmouse at 10:58 AM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
Oh, and a recent favorite podcast of mine is Stuff You Missed in History Class. The name about sums it up.
posted by General Malaise at 10:59 AM on April 7, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by General Malaise at 10:59 AM on April 7, 2011 [4 favorites]
Sounds like you might want to download some podcasts. I also find books on CD to be a good diversion -- my local library has quite a selection.
posted by elmay at 10:59 AM on April 7, 2011
posted by elmay at 10:59 AM on April 7, 2011
What about some old radio plays? When I was a kid, a local radio station would play old radio serials from the '30s and '40s on Saturdays, and it was awesome. The Shadow Knows! and stuff like that. I imagine you could find some recordings to play while you're doing your morning routine.
posted by LN at 11:13 AM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by LN at 11:13 AM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
I listen to law school lectures (and supreme court oral arguments) at work to fill this exact need. I imagine this would bore you to tears, but! there are similar (very itunes centric, unfortunately) podcasts in other disciplines which might fit your bill.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:14 AM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by crush-onastick at 11:14 AM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
Jordan Jesse Go! Start the morning off with laughs.
posted by something something at 11:18 AM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by something something at 11:18 AM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
CBC has some awesome podcasts. You might like Quirks and Quarks, its a science show where they talk about a different subject each week and its very easy to digest and down to earth, or The Age Of Persuasion is a show about how advertising works which is quite well done and funny.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 11:20 AM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 11:20 AM on April 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
Nthing podcasts. I currently listen to The Writer's Almanac, A Prairie Home Companion, Fresh Air, and Car Talk. I just started downloading the TED talks to listen to as well. Fresh Air and TED seem to fit your requirements the best.
The best part is they stop and start when you want.
posted by Tehhund at 11:23 AM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
The best part is they stop and start when you want.
posted by Tehhund at 11:23 AM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
When NPR gets too depressing, I listen to sports radio. Im not the biggest sports fan, but the ability to master useless information and construct 24 hours of useless what-if scenarios about a few games adults play is relieving. I don't care about sports in the least, but it also gives me some talking points with a few die-hards at work with whom I would have little else to talk about.
This fake sense of mastery, intelligence, and expertise is what I think attracts some people to sports.
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:29 AM on April 7, 2011
This fake sense of mastery, intelligence, and expertise is what I think attracts some people to sports.
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:29 AM on April 7, 2011
I'm in exactly the same boat! So far, TED podcasts seem to be my default go-to for brain candy, but I'll def. be watching for more recommendations.
posted by Space Kitty at 11:33 AM on April 7, 2011
posted by Space Kitty at 11:33 AM on April 7, 2011
If you're going the podcast route, I'll definitely second "Stuff You Missed in History Class" and add that howstuffworks.com has many other podcasts (Stuff You Should Know, TechStuff, etc.) that I listen to everyday. Even when I'm not interested in the topics I learn something and I don't tune them out or turn them off because they have decent hosts and good production. Start here for more on their offerings.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:24 PM on April 7, 2011
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:24 PM on April 7, 2011
The BBC's From Our Own Correspondent might be a bit too newsy for you, but the aim is to give the foreign bureaux a chance to talk about things that aren't newsy. The international outlets of other national broadcasters tend to have interesting material along similar lines -- RFI, Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands, etc. -- I have Sirius in the car, and there's a "World Radio" station that rotates through the English-language services, and there's the occasional serendipitous treat.
In Our Time gets mentioned a lot here, but with the standard caveat: the more you know about a topic, the more likely you are to be annoyed with how Melvyn Bragg treats it. In contrast, I'm increasingly drawn to the CBC's "Ideas" strand, which is very good at spanning the academic and popular.
posted by holgate at 12:25 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
In Our Time gets mentioned a lot here, but with the standard caveat: the more you know about a topic, the more likely you are to be annoyed with how Melvyn Bragg treats it. In contrast, I'm increasingly drawn to the CBC's "Ideas" strand, which is very good at spanning the academic and popular.
posted by holgate at 12:25 PM on April 7, 2011 [2 favorites]
If you prefer a true radio (rather than podcasts) Sangean's PR-D8 lets you record radio shows to an SD card in the radio. So you can record broadcast radio shows that you like via a timer and then play them back in the morning.
posted by okbye at 12:31 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by okbye at 12:31 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you use Chrome (not sure what else it works with) you can get the NPR app and choose any of their most current programs to listen to.
posted by frobozz at 12:47 PM on April 7, 2011
posted by frobozz at 12:47 PM on April 7, 2011
One of my favourite podcasts is the UK show Answer Me This. It is hosted by Helen Zaltzman (sister of Andy Zaltzman from The Bugle) and Olly Mann, two friends who answer the widely ranging questions that people send them. It's light-hearted but intelligent; no serious news stuff here, but I do actually learn interesting facts sometimes. The questions can be anything from "Where does the expression 'pleased as punch' come from?" to "How can I get my roommate to stop wearing really offensive t-shirts?" to "Why is the poisoned apple a common motif in fairy tales?" (as I am writing these, I realize it seems like a random sampling of the less angsty AskMe questions). Anyway, they put out a new one every week; there are tons of free episodes available in the archive; if you listen to all of those (ahem) you can buy some of the the really old ones from their shop. Really, truly, it's what I listen to when I need something smart and funny but not too serious.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:50 PM on April 7, 2011
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:50 PM on April 7, 2011
Earth and Environmental Systems Podcast.
You can pick and choose amongst 66 editions, starting with the basics of science, as it is understood today, and then ending with a chronology of the universe, culminating in a history of humans on earth.
Knowing you a very tiny bit, I think that you'd like it.
posted by Danf at 3:04 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
You can pick and choose amongst 66 editions, starting with the basics of science, as it is understood today, and then ending with a chronology of the universe, culminating in a history of humans on earth.
Knowing you a very tiny bit, I think that you'd like it.
posted by Danf at 3:04 PM on April 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
I could have written this question a year ago - for me the solution was VH1 Classic, because they play AWESOME 80s videos (that I was too little to see when they were current.) Totally changed up my morning routine and left me with a bounce in my step on the way to the train station - instead of being depressed and overwhelmed at the state of the MF-ing world.
Cartoons? If you have cable you can see the classics like smurfs and snorks and bugs bunny. Talk about putting you in a good mood, right! Otherwise nthing Ted Talks, and I get a NASA education channel that shows those kinds of docs that you had to watch in science classes in high school. Nice, non-offensive background noise.
I still read the news in the evenings to stay current, but I totally agree that listening to a lot of griping and squawking in the morning is a recipe for a jangly, nervous day. If you can stomach classical music you might find that relaxing as well - and audiobooks are AWESOME for this purpose because you can continue listening once you get in the car!
posted by polly_dactyl at 4:20 PM on April 7, 2011
Cartoons? If you have cable you can see the classics like smurfs and snorks and bugs bunny. Talk about putting you in a good mood, right! Otherwise nthing Ted Talks, and I get a NASA education channel that shows those kinds of docs that you had to watch in science classes in high school. Nice, non-offensive background noise.
I still read the news in the evenings to stay current, but I totally agree that listening to a lot of griping and squawking in the morning is a recipe for a jangly, nervous day. If you can stomach classical music you might find that relaxing as well - and audiobooks are AWESOME for this purpose because you can continue listening once you get in the car!
posted by polly_dactyl at 4:20 PM on April 7, 2011
I finally started listening to The Sound of Young America podcast recently and it's awesome. It's basically interesting people interviewed by a good, well-informed interviewer.
posted by grapesaresour at 5:29 PM on April 7, 2011
posted by grapesaresour at 5:29 PM on April 7, 2011
Several have been mentioned here, but all the shows in the Maximum Fun lineup are worth a listen. Plus, supported by Ask Metafilter, so that's all very circular.
posted by donnagirl at 7:28 PM on April 7, 2011
posted by donnagirl at 7:28 PM on April 7, 2011
Slate has several decent "gabfest" podcasts, each which come out weekly.
The political gfest might not interest you now, but the cultural and double x podcasts from them are good.
What about audiobooks?
posted by prior at 7:33 PM on April 7, 2011
The political gfest might not interest you now, but the cultural and double x podcasts from them are good.
What about audiobooks?
posted by prior at 7:33 PM on April 7, 2011
I feel the same about the news but still like economic news (it's a way to get a tiny bit of news news: "the price of Commodity rose today due to unrest in Country"). Fresh Air is my other standby, but it has many artists.
posted by salvia at 12:09 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by salvia at 12:09 AM on April 8, 2011
Try "Philosophy Bites"- 20 minute interviews with philosophers on all kinds of topics from political philosophy to architecture (also available as podcasts on iTunes). Gets my synapses firing first thing in the morn!
posted by Rufus T. Firefly at 11:24 AM on April 8, 2011
posted by Rufus T. Firefly at 11:24 AM on April 8, 2011
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posted by ghharr at 10:57 AM on April 7, 2011 [6 favorites]