Talk Radio

With podcasts available to download onto a portable player, (i.e. my iPod) I have come to love talk radio. I can easily imagine a world before television where radio programming was literally the talk of the town. In fact, the advent/popularity of podcasting (which is basically a revolution of radio programming in a way the VCR revolutionized the way we watch television by making it available to us when we have the time to enjoy it) has probably reinvigorated radio programming. Hard for me to say, though, since I didn't even have "local" radio available to me in Japan - by which I mean, I can now listen to Chicago Public Radio on the subway in Tokyo.
While I enjoy listening to various news programs, my two favorites are not news related so much as they are thematic storylines. At the top of my list is This American Life (from Chicago NPR), followed by RadioLab (out of New York). These are expertly produced and edited and always provide intelligent entertainment; each show lasting for approximately one hour and updated weekly.
I remember years ago when I noticed my mom listening to audiobooks (or the "traditional" term, books-on-tape) while she went for evening walks. It was around that time or soon after that the iPod reached its popularity, and it seemed a well-timed turn of events since more books were becoming available in audio format. Now audiobooks are no longer in the same family as Large Print Books catering to people with poor eyesite, but are for those of us on the move, mainly urban dwellers commuting to work or looking for something to engage us while at the gym.
So even though talk radio, per se, often causes people to conjure up images of a stuffy commentator taking calls from the general citizenry, I think it's far time that this view is updated to reflect what is really available out there. And for those that don't have an iPod or mp3 player, check out local radio listings online.