NPR Shark Jumped; Now What?

December 13, 2020 8:31 AM

Sadly my local public station has been eaten by Colorado Public Radio. Ideas?

I love broadcast radio. I was raised with it, it's part of my personality, and makes me feel connected to the other listeners. My go-to was a local public radio station that i fully stopped listening to about five years ago. they let go of their awesome local hilarious lefty personality, dropped 'democracy now' and 'this way out'. and of course NPR news is a duplicitous both-sider and R apologist.

Any live streams out there that might scratch my curious/connected/progressive itch? Thanks!

(sirious 127 progressive radio is mostly outrage-ranting. not down.)

posted by j_curiouser to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

Response by poster: uh, need to emphasize 'live' in livestream. can be syndicated, pre-recorded, but really want *collective* listening. not really interested in picking out podcast episodes or whatever. ty!
posted by j_curiouser at 8:42 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: WAMU in DC can be streamed. With the disclaimer that they do have the standard NPR shows, I do think there are also others that may be of interest. I know you want to live stream, but I'm linking to the list of shows here, because if any strike your interest then you can check their broadcast schedule and listen live.
posted by gudrun at 9:18 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Perhaps one of the Pacifica member stations? None of them are in Colorado though. I’m familiar with WPFW which is the station in DC. It’s a lot of live streaming talk and has Democracy Now: much more progressive and less NPR than WAMU mentioned above.
posted by sizeable beetle at 10:42 AM on December 13, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I should also say that WPFW can be streamed though its website and also the TuneIn radio app.
posted by sizeable beetle at 10:46 AM on December 13, 2020 [3 favorites]

Best answer: WNYC -- the local NYC station, and producer of many excellent programs like Radiolab and On The Media -- streams live via their website.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 11:41 AM on December 13, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Many of its shows are Maine-focused, but I think there's plenty you would like at WERU.
posted by JanetLand at 1:21 PM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: After I posted it occurred to me to google "community radio stations in Colorado" and this was the first hit, and I bet there are others. Community radio can be awesome.
posted by JanetLand at 1:36 PM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Nting Pacifica. (KPFA and WBAI are my default. Neither are quite what they used to be, but are still not terrible. Some of the other member stations are probably good too.) KPOO was fantastic. I haven't listened in a while and I vaguely remember some controversy a few years back that may have changed things. It was more music-heavy, but had some news, documentary, and audio art too.

Perhaps college stations are worth a try? They can be pretty hit and miss. (KALX has surprised me in a good way many times.) Also, it's probably too specific to be of general interest, but I've enjoyed some of the radio stations run by indigenous Canadian communities. Sadly, the only one I remember by name seems to have shut down recently.

Looking forward to other answers.
posted by eotvos at 4:09 PM on December 13, 2020 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Best and random-est terrestrial option here in SLC these days is KUAA.
posted by armeowda at 9:55 PM on December 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Your question looks like you want talk radio, but Dallas has a delightful public music station KXT 91. 7
posted by CathyG at 11:21 PM on December 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: some balanced combo of talk, music, news, and syndicated programming is the goal. thx!
posted by j_curiouser at 12:00 PM on December 16, 2020

Response by poster: thank you, everyone, for the terrific ideas. great starting point.

cheers ! j_
posted by j_curiouser at 2:25 PM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

KBOO is an independent community radio station in Portland, OR. They tick a lot of your boxes, Democracy Now!, music, talk, as well as some other interesting stuff like experimental radio and audio art pieces. I remember one late night show where the host played an audio recording of an H.P. Lovecraft story and added psychedelic music and various samples throughout and it was pretty amazing. Lots of great memories listening to them over the years.
posted by i feel possessed at 6:43 AM on December 22, 2020