Visiting my parents, so it’s NPR 24/7. Right now, they’ve got Wait Wait Don’t Tell me with freaking P. J. O’ Rourke as a guest.
Is it too early to start drinking?
Talk about whatever.
Update. Don’t tell me that show isn’t really NPR, it’s American Public Media or whatever. I don’t care.
Stephanie
At least it’s not Fox News. My parents have Faux News on 24/7. Now that is hell!
gnomedad
Sorry, I have to allow that P.J. is a conservative who is actually funny. There may be another somewhere.
James Gary
I’m pretty sure he’s a panelist, not a guest. And give the show a break — Charlie Pierce is on there almost EVERY week, for God’s sake.
Mnemosyne
Waaah. Come spend some time with my parents in Arizona, where the media menu is Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the local Phoenix news, which is rape, murder, and mayhem 24/7.
ETA: Also, too, “Wait Wait” has Charles Pierce as a regular, so how bad can it really be?
ETA #2: D’oh, James Gary beat me to it.
MikeJ
WWDTM is actually NPR.
different-church-lady
Why do I hate that show so much? What makes it so hateable? I don’t hate Sez You. I don’t hate What Do You Know?
I hate This American Life, but that’s a whole ‘nother matter…
cathyx
P J O’Rourke is on every week. Or practically every week. He’s a regular.
Felinious Wench
On out 5th floor at work, someone has the TV always turned to Fox News. I change it to ESPN to be politically agnostic in the workplace. I go to another floor, then back to the 5th, Fox. I change it. We do it all day and have no idea who each other is.
MikeJ
@James Gary:
And every goddamned “joke” on the show is “both sides do it”. Unless PJ O’Rourke is on, in which case it’s “Dems suck”.
PJ doesn’t really understand the fake news story game. His fake story is always about how Dems want to require your children to give blow jobs to any Muslim that requests one instead of anything halfway believable.
MikeJ
@different-church-lady:
You are a glutton for punishment. I can’t stand either of those.
I do enjoy The News Quiz, I can find occasional amusement in The Now Show. The News Quiz has many of the failings of wwdtm, but not to the same degree.
Mnemosyne
@different-church-lady:
I HATE “What Do You Know.” I’ve nearly crashed the car because I leap so quickly to change the station when I hear that whiny, condescending host’s voice.
different-church-lady
@MikeJ: I’m not saying they’re not hateable. I’m just trying to figure out what puts WWDTM in it’s own class of hateability.
Comrade Mary
Don’t mind me, I’m listening to Radiolab.
bergman
He’s rarely on anymore and Charlie Pierce is almost always on. Unclench already.
Pen
@Felinious Wench: Consider yourself lucky. I have the same situation at work except I have either Fox News or… nothing. Apparently I’m the only one in my department that would rather unplug the TV than watch that dreck every day because they keep plugging it back in.
As far as PBS and NPR go though, well that’s another story. I’ve been told that they’re “liberal propaganda” but every time I’ve turned it on in the last 10 years or so it’s had a panel of glibertarian idiots spouting crap that may as well have come out of an Ayn Rand novel. Liberal my ass.
DougJ, Head of Infidelity
@James Gary:
I’m not such a Pierce-o-phile as some.
malraux
@gnomedad:
I disagree. He’s another one of those conservatives who used to be funny but then decided to be really conservative and that sucked out all the funny. His great quote about democrats, crabgrass, conservatives, and getting elected to prove it is both classic and something he would never say now.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Count your blessings. When we visited my father-in-law it was nonstop Fox News. Loud, ’cause he wouldn’t wear his hearing aid.
mellowjohn
@gnomedad: o’rourke’s one saving grace is that – given a choice between maintaining ideological purity and being a smart-ass – he’ll usually go with smart-ass.
James Gary
@cathyx: P J O’Rourke is on every week. Or practically every week. He’s a regular.
For whatever reason, I’m a regular listener (although I can understand why some people might hate the show) and I’d estimate that O’Rourke is on the show about once every two months.
@MikeJ:
And every goddamned “joke” on the show is “both sides do it”. Unless PJ O’Rourke is on, in which case it’s “Dems suck”. PJ doesn’t really understand the fake news story game. His fake story is always about how Dems want to require your children to give blow jobs to any Muslim that requests one instead of anything halfway believable.
I don’t want to start a flame war–but really, you might want to lighten up a bit, dude.
gogol's wife
I haven’t heard that show for a while. It didn’t used to be “both sides do it” at all. It was Roy Blount Jr. and Paula Poundstone. They were funny.
Amir Khalid
P.J. O’Rourke is still alive? The man knew how to turn a sharp phrase, back in the day, but he hasn’t had anything new to say in decades.
jeffreyw
Podcasts, dammit. Take control. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Escape Pod,Lightspeed Magazine, Tony Smith’s Starship Sofa, and etc.
James Gary
@DougJ, Head of Infidelity:
I’m not such a Pierce-o-phile as some.
Whatever your opinion of him, I hope you’ll concede that 1) his politics are about as progressive as you can get in present-day American MSM and 2) he’s on the show almost every week.
Ed Dane Defender of Donuts
NPR sucks . They have bought up all the college and high school radio stations that had alternative, top 40, real music, and the like. They converted them all to their NPR format and the programs on each run 5-10 minutes after the other. Miss what Helen Thomas … I mean Diane Rehm … said to somebody … just switch stations and wait a bit.
The other day they had a panel of young republicans on. And then they talked to some conservative senator for a bit …
Villago Delenda Est
@gnomedad:
PJ is a conservative who is funny when he isn’t being overtly political.
If he goes partisan on you, he ceases to be funny. He just becomes another annoying rightard nonwit.
schrodinger's cat
@jeffreyw: How is your kittehs? Bitsy, Homer and the others? Any new pics?
Fezzik
Dear God, DougJ, you are a killjoy, aren’t you? That’s a very funny show. Next you’ll be whining about “totebag hell” in that they made you listen to Radio Lab, or something equally amazing and edifying.
I will say this, though: WTF is the deal with their insistence on monotone voices? It’s like a special editorial rule that all the non-entertainment, non-specialty programming has to be as bland and milquetoast as possible. It’s not just the national programs, either: the local programming is exactly the same. Patton Oswalt is right in that it is unlistenable.
different-church-lady
@gogol’s wife: I always found Paula Poundstone funny. Except when she was on WWDTM, when she’d suddenly be mysteriously unfunny.
It’s like WWDTM is some mysterious humor-sucking species of sponge.
gnomedad
@malraux:
Too bad. I’ve read some of his stuff, but admittedly haven’t heard his shtick recently.
Jewish Steel
Doug @ his parents house.
Bob In Beaverton
The mosquitoes must be coming out in Lake Wobegon about now.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Amir Khalid: Who knew? I’m happy to read I’m not the only one with that response, and I agree he could indeed turn a phrase.
Kathy in St. Louis
Just want to all to know that here in Missouri, where no one can find funding for ANYTHING right now, what the the GOP running both houses of the legislature and doing pretty much whatever they want, which is nothing…..there IS money for a 24 hour surveillance camera to make certain that no one vandalizes the newly installed bust of Rush Limbaugh in the Capitol.
Probably a good move, though. When they decided to install this bust honoring Rush, they did it secretly. So, there are probably more than a couple of people in the state who wouldn’t mind seeing it fall off the pedestal it sits on, or have some other accident.
Hell, I’d bet there might be more than 10 people natiowide.
Culture of Truth
It is a rule, so I’ve heard.
burnspbesq
KCRW.com is the answer. All the NPR you want (if any), and an amazing mix of music. They also have a iOS app.
The NPR music app is also really good.
burnspbesq
@Ed Dane Defender of Donuts:
Demonstrably false. Go listen to KUSC, or KKJZ, or WBGO, or WFUV?
burnspbesq
WFUV caters to all the old farts like me who grew up on WNEW-FM. They have Dennis Elsa’s, Pete Fornatale, and Vin Scelsa on on a regular basis.
Amir Khalid
@Kathy in St. Louis:
It baffles me that anyone would want to look at Rush Limbaugh’s bust. I would never want to, unless Rush was decently covered up.
Kathy in St. Louis
@Amir Khalid: I am certain that he is always decently covered. He wears a bra, or should, considering the huge dugs he has.
TaMara (BHF)
Well this thread blows the whole “I only read blogs/news sites/information on the internet that agrees with my beliefs”.
Who are you people? I thought we were all simpatico.
WWDTM rocks.
Next you’ll tell me Obama is a Kenyan/Socialist/Fascist.
Emma Anne
@Pen:
Nice Polite Republicans
Maude
@DougJ, Head of Infidelity:
You should have started drinking before you got there.
I haven’t listened to NPR for years.
The Sailor
I like both WWDTM and Says You, I’m listening to WWDTM as I write.
I have a slight bias toward Says You because I sent in a category and they used it. It was especially rewarding when a colleague at work congratulated me.
And when the re-ran that show another person at work congratulated me.
I’m slightly ashamed to admit I had a thrill when I heard them announce my name and used my category.
The Sailor
@Kathy in St. Louis: Who let the dugs out!?
Joey Maloney
Holidays In Hell is a minor classic of political humor. It’s out of date now, of course, but I still chuckle when I read it. O’Rourke hasn’t written fuck-all worth reading this century, though.
the fugitive uterus
@Pen: got no use for NPR, not for the past 10 years, i think – not after Iraq. the time before that, well, i hate to use the term hyperpartisanism but things were just different back then, republicans weren’t the raving assholes hell-bent on destroying the country that they are now
but NPR seems to have been enabling them for some time now and, with no other alternatives in my area, i finally just turned off the radio, for good.
now i have Sirius.
the fugitive uterus
@Emma Anne: i like that one! b/c the republicans on NPR aren’t screaming and foaming at the mouth, they’re nice people who should be taken seriously and not questioned! and both sides do it!
burnspbesq
If you didn’t listen to Air America and patronize its advertisers, you’ve got no standing to bitch about NPR.
DecidedFenceSitter
Oh is that who was on WWDTM today? I caught it on my way home from the gym and it was in the midst of the bashing on science in “humor” and I finally just switched it to the clear channel in the area.
the fugitive uterus
i used to get so bored i listened to Cartalk, back in the day – that seems like yesterday and 100 years ago at the same time
burnspbesq
OT, but speaking of standing, the government filed a motion for reconsideration in Hedges, in which it finally said in writing what it didn’t say at the hearing, i.e., that the activities alleged by plaintiffs would not make them subject to detention under Section 1021 of the NDAA.
http://www.lawfareblog.com/2012/05/government-motion-for-reconsideration-in-hedges/
Just Some Fuckhead
I’m old enough to remember when P.J. O’Rourke was funny and didn’t induce cringing embarrassment in onlookers.
the fugitive uterus
@burnspbesq: i listened to Air America when it was still alive, that’s one reason i got XM, well it was XM at the time; i loved Sam Seder’s show, i’m glad Chris Hayes has him on. i thot he was really good and also adorable, i guess i’m the only one. i used to listen to him every morning on the way to my radiation treatments, that always stands out in my mind
i would listen to Randi after work and then Rachel after the gym!
brantl
@James Gary: Yeah, but Charlie Pierce doesn’t suck. O’Rourke does.
Steeplejack
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Just had to mention that I belatedly saw your DrPaul2012 site and loved it. Still chuckling over Oh, the Places You’ll Go Galt!
Maude
@brantl:
What Charlie Pierce does in his personal life is none of our bidness.
DougJ, Head of Infidelity
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I am too.
MariedeGournay
Really like NPR around our parts. The CT station mixes national shows like Fresh Air with locally produced talk shows that are actually about what’s happening in the state. And I love Colin McEnroe. Who else does a sensitive, informative show about sex after 60?
I know it’s cool to hate NPR, but I like having a station that not only about politics. The Needle Drop, the Moth Radio hour, etc. and other shows actually use the strengths of the medium and offers variety in terms of topics and foci. The thing I find particularly depressing about right wing radio is that it is so stunted; it’s only about one thing: what’s wrong and who’s the blame. There’s no science, no art, no culture. Yeah, the news side needs to be kept honest, but I for one wouldn’t want NPR to become a war machine on my behalf. I want to be able to turn it on and actually learn something about insect behavior or the debate about the lack of mass transit in CT.
gocart mozart
Last week, Charles Pierce was on “Wait Wait, don’t tell me” so, bad timing on your part DougJ.
nastybrutishntall
Any Choom Gangstas in the house? “choom gang” ought to be a tag. It’s gonna be spittle sprayed from every wingnut for the next six months. We ought to make it our own first.
Corner Stone
@burnspbesq: “Put simply, plaintiffs’ descriptions in this litigation of their activities, if accurate, do not implicate the military detention authority affirmed in section 1021.”
Or shorter USG: “We got this.”
the fugitive uterus
i think, around 2001, i just left all things “milquetoasty” behind, as far as news outlets go. i know NPR is supposed to be milquetoast and that’s fine. it just wasn’t doing it for me. there are obvious questions, with regard to war especially, that should be asked and weren’t being asked by virtually any news outlet. now i can’t blame NPR for that, EVERYONE and the NYT, of course, was doing it. that’s when you really start to question your sources of news and i had to go elsewhere to find the real truth of things.
we just went hopping and skipping into Iraq with daisies and chocolates and without so much as a debate about it.
oh, and then somewhere along the way, i happened upon this blog, a blog written by a man who voted for Bush twice – WTF?
Bex
@The Sailor: It was Rmoney, expressing himself in song.
The Sailor
@the fugitive uterus: “now i have Sirius.”
Shirley, you can’t be serious!
Mike in NC
The last thing I read by P.J. O’Rourke that made me laugh was a book called “Holidays in Hell”, but that was about 20 years ago and since then he’s mostly been content to be a massive wingnut asshole.
Phil P.
@DougJ, Head of Infidelity: I’m not a Pierce-o-phile either, at least in terms of his WWDTM appearances. I think he’s one of the least interesting/funny panelists they have. IMHO, PJ O’Rourke and Paula Poundstone are the two best.
I love me some Pierce opining writing though. I think he’s been great at his gig at Esquire.
Regarding writing, O’Rourke used to be funny (way back) even when doing his conservative opinion schtick. Not so much any more, but I’m willing to admit that it’s entirely possible my open-mindedness ain’t what it once used to be.
joes527
@MikeJ:
The least believable story is usually the true one. The most common mistake the bluffers make is to not go big enough.
folkbum
Having seen several Wait, Wait tapings with Charlie Pierce on the panel, the only reason you guys think he’s funny is that they edit out about 95% of what he says. The man has great fcking politics on his blog, and a good writing voice, but he ruins the panel.
gelfling545
@Pen: When I have to go somewhere involving a waiting room if fox news, etc. is on I ask them to please change it to something less offensive. Daytime soap operas (all of which I hate), cartoons ((most of which I hate), anything. If they will not and there will be any appreciable wait I cancel my appointment & go elsewhere. I then make sure the management knows why I cancelled. This has been pretty successful as most businesses have understood that the fact that I am paying them for a service does not give them the right to force their (or more likely those of the store/office manager) political and/or religious opinions on me.
Comrade Mary
KCRW is fine for a great mix of music, but WFMU seriously fucking rocks.
Mnemosyne
@MariedeGournay:
We have a really great locally produced NPR show here in Los Angeles called “Off-Ramp.” The host is John Rabe, who’s been doing local NPR for years now and is a really good guy. I still crack up thinking about how he accidentally outed himelf on the air (probably about 10 years ago) during a conversation when he talked about what he and his boyfriend (now his husband) were going to do that weekend. Since this is Los Angeles and NPR, nothing happened except that his co-worker started laughing and said, “John, did you just out yourself?”
Anoniminous
WWDTM was a tiresome grind of stale wit, by stale lackwits aka “the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world.”
I concede I haven’t listened to the program in ten years so the show may have improved with Mr. Pierce as a panelist. Alas, it’s still got Kasell and Sandal involved so … I doubt it.
Pen
@burnspbesq: Holy cow. It’s almost as if you don’t understand the concept of geographical limitations of terrestrial radio broadcasting. Pull the other one why don’t you?
@gelfling545: Considering the fact that my employer is well known for providing photo-op tours to every major Republican who asks every election season I’m not so sure that would be a good idea from an employee standpoint. I have made sure that the waiting room neare my office at least is always turned off. We had a number of customers like you come in and I got sick of seeing the staff get all flustered because they couldn’t figure out why they were having so many upset customers.
Pen
@Pen: The tv in the waiting room near my office. Agog, bloody iPad keyboard.
Keith G
NPR provides an important set of services and they go about performing their various tasks surprising well. They are not perfect, but what they accomplish is significant.
I tire of cool kids who want to prove their cool cred by dumping on the entirety of NPR’s efforts or their motives. But this is a blog where cynicism and angry insults are sometimes confused with analytic thinking.
P.J. O’Rourke seems to be on the show a bit less as of late, but I am not certain. He can be quite funny especially in his self-deprecating mode. He can be just as acerbic toward the GOP as he is towards the Dems, but there certainly time when he works to get his extra digs in to the liberals. His voice is a minority on that show, so I cut him some slack. He is a token.
13th Generation
You know what’s totebagger hell?
The Balloon-Juice comment section.
Pen
@Keith G: And those services would be what, exactly? And please name something I can’t get from any other source because I’ve obviously been missing out on something of vital importance that would require me to put up with glibertarian assholes.
AA+ Bonds
P.J. O’Rourke is a reactionary who I don’t mind reading because he’s very mean and clever
Of course in a just world he would be treated like Jim Goad and wouldn’t be on NPR for any reason
I guess I have a high tolerance for jovial racists having grown up in North Carolina
AA+ Bonds
@Ed Dane Defender of Donuts:
In central NC, they pretty much spun off from the campus and now there’s an NPR station that’s pretty much all public radio talk programming and also a trad “college” station with student DJs
AA+ Bonds
I mean yall can hate on public broadcasting straight into the conversion of America into a dictatorship but that’s where that leads, when they start getting rid of public sources of information
Trust me, I am way more pissed than you at the pro-capitalist moderate-liberal bullshit that passes for commentary on NPR but it’s a good thing if NPR exists and is well funded
AA+ Bonds
@gelfling545:
What I do is to never make any appointments with those people again no matter whether they switch the channel or not because
if Fox News is on the TV in their waiting room, then my money as a patient will go to local Republicans and various right-wing bigot-loving causes
debbie
@ burnspbesq:
I canNOT believe Vin Scelsa is still around! Is he doing Idiot’s Delight? Sunday nights, I’d tell myself I’d just listen until he plays the next song, and that wouldn’t happen for almost an hour…
—
Actually, P.J. was pretty good today. The last question for the panelists was to name something Mitt Romney should not say, and P.J.’s answer was, “Probably the Presidential Inaugural Address.”
Pen
@AA+ Bonds: That may be true, if the Internet didn’t exist. Unless and until they do something to suppress or censor the Internet the necessity of a government sponsored source of information is pretty much nil. If it’s pro-capitalist DNC-style “liberalism” trust me, the Internet is more useful.
bob h
Yes, would you prefer Limbaugh? “Wait, Wait” is my favorite radio program.