Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with npr

What is it like to call NPR?

roaring beast — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:35:36 -0800

What happens when you call a radio show like NPR's "Talk of the Nation?" What does the screener ask you? Do you give a summary of your statement? What if they don't like it - do they reject you? What do they say? Do you have to wait a long time? Is it hard to get through? How do they pick who gets on the show?

NPR is too quite on my phone.

Science! — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:44:38 -0800

NPR audio feeds are oddly quiet on my HTC EVO 3D, while Pandora, YouTube and any other audio is plenty loud. Is there some odd internal setting I need to change? I use my phone daily to listen to NPR, Pandora, and a variety of other media. NPR station feeds come in so quietly that I can barely hear them whether my phone is using it's own speaker or if it's hooked up to a (cheap) external speaker. I've streamed NPR feeds (4 different stations now across the country) through the NPR android app, through the TuneIn Radio app, and directly from a station's website through the browser and every single time the audio is very quiet.

Pandora, YouTube, MP3s, etc. really anything other than NPR comes in plenty loud both on the phone and played out into an external speaker. I work in an area exposed to customers, and I often have to reduce Pandora's volume (on the external speaker) to not interfere with customers. With NPR I'm always trying to increase volume.

The phone was recently upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich (no problems before the update), has not been rooted or had anything installed other than through automatic updates or downloading apps through Google Play. Phone speaker/media volume is always at it's highest and I adjust the external speaker accordingly. Reboots, removing the battery, have done nothing. I've been uninstalling downloaded apps, but nothing has changed.

It's one of those things that you're always vaguely aware of, but never quite grok...

Phire — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:29:22 -0800

Explain broadcast television in Canada and the US to me like I'm five. I've tried to do some basic research on this, but the Wikipedia articles and other resources all assume a starting level of knowledge that I seem to lack, so I thought I'd turn to the hive mind.

The full extent of my current and very limited understanding:
1. TV signals get sent out over the air by local stations.
2. You can pick up more or less channels via antenna depending on where you live.
3. If you want more channels you have to pay for cable or satellite.
4. Networks create the TV programming and then partner with local stations to distribute it.

Things that I am confused on:

1. Affiliate stations. In my current understanding, these are local TV stations that actually send out the signals. In the US, the call sign for affiliate stations seem to apply to both radio and TV - there might be a radio station for WUNC that carries programming from NPR, but then there's also a TV station for WUNC that carries PBS. Affiliate stations pay a subscription fee to the network whose programming they carry, and then send out the signals locally. They make their revenue from advertising, which is a mix of local ads and national ads from the network. Is this more or less correct?

1a. Does one affiliate station generally restrict itself to one major network, or do they carry multiple networks? How likely is it that you can pick up the same network from two different affiliate stations in a particular area?

1b. Is this call sign system also in place in Canada? I've only ever heard of CFRA radio, for example, and you wouldn't watch a TV show on CFRA. (Or would you?) If the call sign system in Canada does only apply to radio, does it only apply to AM radio or also FM? is there a similar naming system for local TV stations?

1c. Americans seem much more aware of the call signs of their local stations than Canadians do, and to them the station (WBEZ) seems to matter as much as the network (NPR). Why is that?

1d. Affiliate TV stations that carry network X get the same programming for network X at the same time everywhere, and only differ in advertising, right? But the same doesn't apply to radio, because I feel like I've heard Car Talk at different times on the weekend. Am I imagining this? Why the differential? Does it have to do with the purpose of radio being primarily information dissemination, and TV primarily being entertainment?

2. Over the air channels. Cable channels go up in nice numerical sequences. OTA channels (both in Canada and the US?) seem to follow bizarre and arbitrary numbering systems. For example, I get channels 7.1, 7.2, 9.1, and then it jumps up to 25.1. Or something. What is the rationale behind the numbering system? What determines which station gets which channel number? Is there any geographic consistency to this? I.e. if PBS is carried by a station that is 25.1 in North Carolina, is it also likely to be carried by a station that is 25.X on the west coast?

3. What determines what network programming you can get OTA? E.g. In Canada you might get CityTV and CTV and all that stuff OTA without cable (and it would go under one of the funny channel numbers like 6-4), but if you want YTV you pretty much have to get cable. What's preventing OTA channels like CityTV and CTV from moving to cable-exclusive broadcasting so they can get subscription fees? Is it the advertising revenue from increased viewership from people who don't pay for TV? And if it is advertising revenue from increased viewership, why aren't all channels (barring, like, HBO) available OTA to get the maximum possible viewership?

3a. In the US it seems to be possible to pick up channels like the CW over the air, whereas in Canada it would definitely be part of a cable package no matter where you lived. Is this because content production happens in the US, and so they have more negotiating power when they go to Canadian stations since Canadian stations want them so badly?

I think that's everything I can think of, but I will follow up if I think of more. Please take me to school, AskMe. Andpleasedon'tlaughathowlittleIknow.

Hey, I Just Met You....

chara — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:46:48 -0800

I am rather awkward when it comes to matters of the heart and I am unsure how to proceed in this particular situation. I met a really nice guy a week or so ago while we were volunteering for our npr affiliate's pledge drive. We talked most of the time, whenever we weren't answering phones and I feel like we hit it off pretty well, but that could just all be in my head. When our shift was over, he walked with me to my car and asked if I was doing anything afterwards. Unfortunately, I had a meeting to attend, but I invited him to come see my acoustic show later that week (we had discussed it earlier) and wrote down the info for him. He seemed interested at the time, but he didn't show up that night, for whatever reason. I was a little bummed, mostly because we didn't exchange contact info and I had no way to get in touch with him.

I think he is quite intriguing and I'd like to get to know him better. I asked my friend for advice and she suggested that I look him up in the student directoy (he's a student at a local university). I felt a bit weird about it, but I looked and found him easily.

Would it be weird and/or creepy to email him and ask him out for coffee*? I've never done something like this before; usually the roles are reversed.

In the grand tradition of all things MeFi, I am probably overthinking this. Any wisdom you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

* I'd prefer to do something more interesting than coffee/dinner/movie, because I can get awkward and nervous when I'm forced to just stare and talk at relative stranger for 1-2hours. Plus, when you add hot liquids in the mix....bad news all around.

Public Radio Fundraising Changeup

backseatpilot — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 06:14:18 -0800

Our local public radio station has switched up their fundraising tactics for their fall fund drive, and I'm curious about the change. Anyone have any insider knowledge in public radio fundraising? The local NPR news station (WBUR) seems to have changed up their fundraising strategy for their fall fund drive. About three years ago, they changed their fundraisers from the typical 10 day drives to 5 day, "all the money in half the time" shortened fund drives with a several week "pre-fundraising" session that only had short interstitials instead of the lengthy "call in now!" blather. Up until the fund drive going on right now, the focus was on lump sum contributions.

This time around, during their pre-fundraising drive I noticed they started using the phrase "all the members in half the time" and now that the fund drive has started in earnest the focus has been almost entirely on monthly contributions instead of lump sum donations. So, rather than "Support us with a $120 donation and we'll give you a gift card to this local restaurant!" the message has been transformed into "Support with a $10 per month pledge and we'll give you a gift card to this local restaurant!"

Is there anyone on the inside that can shed some light on this? I'm curious about the psychology behind it and if this is happening elsewhere. Does NPR direct fundraising activities at local stations at all, or are the stations basically on their own for these kinds of decisions?

NPR podcasts/radio shows for middle schoolers?

brynna — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:02:40 -0800

NPR podcasts/radio shows for middle schoolers? I teach 7th grade and am looking for podcasts that my students can listen to and then discuss.

I've read this thread but my needs are a bit different and NPR's programming is more diverse since 4 years ago. Ideally, I'm looking for clips about 10 minutes long.

Caveats: No swearing, interesting topics for discussion and/or daily news that are not too mature for a 7th grade audience.

I'm a bit of an NPR newbie, so all suggestions will be considered!

Thank you!

Acoustic guitar song from This American Life's David Rakoff feature?

misformargaret — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:25:05 -0800

Name that tune? Background intro music for This American Life, the episode "Our Friend David." Slow acoustic guitar chords are the only key feature I can identify. I've been through TAL's "frequently used" list and it's none of those. Sounds sort of like some instrumental Yo La Tengo songs, but I don't think it's that either. Many thanks for clues!

A Mystery Band of Double PJ Harveys

indiebass — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:06:09 -0800

Help my identify a band I heard earlier this year! Two Scottish girls that sound like two PJ Harveys... Earlier this year, maybe in February, listening to NPR, they were highlighting bands that were playing (I'm pretty sure*) South by Southwest. "New" bands you might overlook, that kind of thing. They did a pretty long segment, including 3 in-studio songs and I really dug them. But the only thing I can remember is that the band was two girls, from Scotland, and they're music sounded just like two PJ Harvey's (which, to me, is like twice as good as one).

I think they're name was of the formula "The [noun]s" but that might be selective memory.

I know it's not a lot to work with, but the power of the hive mind is great! What do you think? Does any of this sound familiar? Please ask any questions you might think would help; I'll answer as best I can.

(*note: It may have been Coachella, but my gut tells me it was SxSW)

What happened to alt.NPR?

JPDD — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 05:43:01 -0800

What happened to alt.NPR? Has anything taken its place? alt.NPR was a series of podcasts that served as a sort of incubator for innovative talent and ideas that didn't quite fit with the rest of NPR's broadcast schedule. (more detail)

It was discontinued in 2009 - what happened? Has anything replaced it?

I've been thinking about this a lot in light of Ira Glass' comments about junking Car Talk in favor of new and innovative programming. There are lots of programs ready to take over that slot - but what about a step removed from that? Is NPR still investing in innovation the way it did with alt.NPR?

Is this a specific accent? Or just affectation?

gertzedek — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:34:40 -0800

I'm not a native English speaker, so I'm not very good at identifying accents. So I turn to the hive mind to ask about the way Planet Money's Zoe Chace speaks. What kind of accent is that? Maybe it's not an accent and it's just affectation? I find it both fascinating and annoying at the same time.

Half of dinnertime conversation is about brands. Or is it?

andromache — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:53:48 -0800

Help me find the statistic, the radio program on which I first heard it, or the source of the unsettling claim that 50% of family conversations are about corporations/brands/companies. About 6 months ago, I was listening to NPR affiliate WNYC and I heard an astounding (appalling) stat: half of conversations that families have around the dinner table are in some way about brands. At least, that's how I remember it. It might have been higher or lower than half, but the takeaway is that a substantial chunk of our family time is basically spent shilling for private companies. Since I heard the interview, I notice how often I'm talking with my girlfriend, -- or my Zen Buddhist mother, for crying out loud -- and somehow or another, we wind up discussing Apple or JetBlue or some god-damn company that really has no place at our dinner table (or at least it deserves a much smaller seat there! Maybe a high chair.)

I don't recall the program it was on, or if it was a WNYC show or an NPR one. I remember it was an interview with a scholar who'd written a book with a title that sounded like "The United States of America" (The United Brands of America? But cleverer than that). He had, as I recall, a Western European accent... Dutch? German? Ack, embarrassing how little I remember of this fascinating interview.

In any case, I'd love to know the title of the book, the source of the statistic, or the show that the interview was on so I can re-listen to it (and casually drop that figure in conversation when the discussion turns -- as it so often does! -- to talk of companies).

Thanks, everyone. And a good Pepsi Ford Viacom to you all!

Audio interviews

bluelight — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:52:32 -0800

Recommend me some audio interviews like NPR's interviews. I recently stumbled across the NPR archive for interviews and I've really enjoyed what I've heard--mostly by terry gross and they're about 15 to 20 minutes long.

I'd like some more recommendations on great audio interviews preferably those which span a wide range of interviewees (from actors to scientists). By great I mean the interviewer has great skill in asking the right questions that make the interview interesting... Not something like twenty questions.

Thanks!

Minneapolis Mystery Musician.

playertobenamedlater — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:17:21 -0800

Singer-songwriter from Minneapolis. Featured on an afternoon NPR program in late 2001 or early 2002. Mentioned seeing Paul Westerberg ride past him on a bike. Who are you? For whatever reason I thought about this guy today (I have no idea why) and now I can't stop until I figure out who he is. Here are the details of what I remember about him from the interview from 10 years ago:

- mid 20s to early 30s
- lived in Minneapolis/St. Paul at the time
- mentioned having a new girlfriend and that it was "going to last"
- mentioned seeing Paul Westerberg ride past him on a bike wearing a Minnesota Twins jersey
- Played an acoustic song that was really good
- Interview was on NPR in the afternoon ("Fresh Air" maybe)
- Day interview aired was sometime between September 2001 and July 2002

The station I heard this on was WBEZ (91.5) in Chicago. I tried to search their archives and the archives of NPR to see if I could figure out who he was but failed. I have a feeling this was near the beginning of spring 2002 (I think they were discussing the potential contraction of the Twins) but I'm not sure. It being from 10 years ago makes it difficult to search the archives with any accuracy.

Podcast search, "diverse" edition

supercoollady — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:23:26 -0800

A friend is looking for US-based podcasts that are interesting, different, and NOT produced by white dudes. This is for work on podcasts as a medium for material that doesn't fit into "traditional" radio categories and as a place for experimentation. She's finding lots of great stuff, but says with the exception of "Longest shortest time", they're all by white guys. Do you have any recommendations for US-produced podcasts that are experimental, interesting, and from a different perspective? Thanks a lot!

Help me identify a clip from NPR about 15 years ago.

crawltopslow — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:42:44 -0800

Help me identify a clip from NPR about 15 years ago. I was listening in the car to NPR during day time about 10 to 20 years ago.
A man (presumably a journalist of some kind) was talking about how he had gone into the jungles in Africa I believe. He had gone with others from some tribe, and they all had gotten lost, I believe they were on a canoe or boat of some kind.

They had gone days without eating food and with little water I believe, and at that time they were discovered by fellow members of the tribe, who had no way of knowing that they were lost, or where they were lost. They carried food, water, and monkey brains to eat, and saved their lives through clairvoyance somehow...

I believe it was in the format of the journalist talking, and an NPR guy asking him questions.

This story stuck with me and I want to find it again..

Help us figure out the title of this awkwardly named book

unintelligentlydesigned — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 08:57:20 -0800

My wife is going nuts trying to remember the name of a book she heard reviewed a few years ago. A couple of years ago, my wife heard a book review on NPR's Day to Day that intrigued her because of the title. She has since forgotten the title, but it was something along the lines of, "Her then him then her and back to him again" or "Me and you then me then you then me again". She remembers absolutely nothing about the actual book itself, except that it was written by a woman who is already an established writer. She has spent hours scanning book lists for 2008/2009, and cannot find it. She's starting to get a little bit bonkers about it, so I wanted to help

How do you support NPR from outside the US?

sien — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:25:56 -0800

How do I support NPR from outside the US? I listen to a number of NPR podcasts and would like to do my bit. I've tried emailing them but have yet to get a response. I've thought of just supporting the stations in DC I used to listen to when I was there but I'd really prefer to support the system as a whole. Any ideas?

Great NPR pieces from the past?

Taft — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:21:00 -0800

Where can I find significant/classic/cherished NPR pieces from the 70's, 80's, and 90's? Archive.org has scarce selection and NPR.org doesn't seem to archive earlier the early 90's.

Fix my NPR podcast feed

HotPatatta — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:48:26 -0800

My NPR playlist's podcast feed no longer works. Any idea why? The RSS podcast feed from my personal playlist no longer works as of a few weeks ago, so I can't download all the stories in iTunes and take them with me in my ipod. What gives? I copied the podcast link into Chrome and I get the following message: "This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below." In iTunes, i also get an "unknown error occurred (8104)" message.

This is the link NPR is giving me to use:

http://api.npr.org/player?apiKey=MDA3NjQyNTM2MDEzMDgyMDQzNDI3M2M0YQ001&email=gardner.daniel@gmail.com&output=Podcast

Do you see a problem with it? Is there something I can add or omit from the link to get it to work again?

How to download audio from NPR stream?

J0 — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:32:53 -0800

I want to download the audio from streams of concerts hosted on NPR's website - these are audio broadcasts that one can stream in their NPR Media Player (I'd like to be able to listen to these while not connected to the internet). Is there an easy way to do this? I've got Windows 7 on a laptop and XP on another. Thanks for any help. Several of the specific concerts include:

James Blake at SXSW 2011 (his studio work cannot compare IMHO)

Tom Waits at the Fox Theater, Atlanta 2008 (I've got the record but prefer the specific versions from this concert)

Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo from Newport Jazz Festival 2009 (and they do have a duet album coming out, hallelujah)

Railway time, but not a timetable.

orrnyereg — Sun, 22 May 2011 16:23:09 -0800

Help me find a book about railways! My dad heard a discussion on NPR--he says within the last week--about a new book describing how the railways created coordinated universal time (UTC). He wants to read this book and, embarrassing as it is to admit, I haven't been able to find it. I've found plenty of books on the subject but none that have been published this year.

So, did anyone else hear the NPR review, or know which book I'm talking about? Thanks!

Climate change and radical adaptation

brozek — Fri, 06 May 2011 08:54:40 -0800

Months ago (possibly a year or two), I heard an NPR interview with an author who made the case that the international community is past the point of being able to mitigate climate change - that the challenge now is radical adaptation (evacuating islands and coastal cities - things like that). This was on Wisconsin Public Radio, but I don't remember whether it was a state or national show. It's possible that he was British or Australian, but it's very possible that I'm mis-remembering that part. Also, I'm almost positive it wasn't James Howard Kunstler (and searching NPR for him doesn't turn up the interview). Any idea who the author could have been, or where I might find the interview? That's almost nothing to go on, but I've seen AskMeFi identify a 30 year-old coffee mug based on a mis-pronounced name and a wish, so I have hope! I've also written to NPR/WPR audience services, so I'll update the post if they turn up anything.

Great Minds Riff Alike

sanka — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:34:52 -0800

Giants of culture and science coinciding. Where can I listen to more of something like this? I was listening to Science Friday on NPR this afternoon and they had Cormac McCarthy, Werner Herzog, and Lawrence Krauss all talking about how science influenced art.

It was enthralling. I'm a huge fan of both Herzog and McCarthy, and Krauss' book on Feynman is definitely appealing to me. But I was wondering if anyone else could think of something else like this.

Huge names like that, just getting together and riffing on a topic. Something like that has had to occur in the past. And if it did, it has to be on Youtube or somewhere else I can listen to it.

I know about all the TED talks, I'm talking about a group of great minds like that all going off each other and filling an hour or so.

Help me find this abduction story!

wansac — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:15:22 -0800

A few years ago, I heard a segment on NPR/Seattle Public Radio about two men who claimed to have been abducted by aliens some number of years ago. I'm not sure if it was a This American Life story (but I don't think it was based on what I found of the show archives), a NPR story, or a Seattle Public Radio story. I am trying to find a recording of that piece now and/or more information about the story it covered. I don't remember all the details, but here are the ones that I do recall:

-Two men claimed to be abducted some number of years ago while out camping (maybe in a row boat or something when the abduction actually happened?)
-They couldn't really remember it for years
-One of them was some kind of artist, and he eventually started finding himself compulsively sculpting strange figures that he ultimately realized were the figures of the aliens
-One or both of them recounted their abduction experience under hypnosis
-They convinced many people that there experiences were real

Does anyone know the names of the guys involved, have a link to the story or recording of the piece? Thanks for any info you have about this!

I never knew it was spelled "Soterios"

deliquescent — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:03:08 -0800

What was that song on NPR (specifically WNYC) this morning? On Morning Edition, during a NYC-centric piece hosted by Soterios Johnson on a magic shop in Queens, the background music he played was a beautiful instrumental fingerstyle guitar piece that I have no means of looking up. It seemed modern - kind of indie, if I can use that term, and if that helps.