If anything, I thought
El Guapo would be the furst Cyburbanite on NPR. Tom and Ray love to hold forth about Volvos on
Car Talk.
JNL said:
What is this NPR you speak of?
National Public Radio, or as they say on the broadcasts, "National ......... Public ......... Radio."
NPR is a godsend. If you're driving through the middle of nowhere, USA, you'll encounter radio wastelands, where few or no broadcast stations can be recieved. If you pick up anything on the car stereo, it'll be country music, norteño and ranchero music (sad Mexican polkas), farm reports (livestock auction prices, and crop and livestock prices at various markets, recited for hour after hour), or Juh-HEE-uhh-suh-hus. However, even in the most remote of radio wastelands, you'll almost always find an NPR station, usually between 88.1 and 91.9 MHz. It's America's version of BBC Radio 4, CBC Radio 1, or RNZ National Radio.
Some NPR stations will have primarily news and non-music shows, a few others play mostly classical music and jazz, but the majority lie in the middle. Many cities have more than one NPR station. NPR stations aren't really owned by NPR, but by a non-profit organization, foundation, university, or local or state government. Many broadcast shows provided by
PRI, like
Prairie Home Companion and
Whad'Ya Know?.
Because the US government doesn't have domestic radio broadcasts, public radio is usually sponsored by a variety or foundations and corporations. Before a show, you'll often hear a pretentious-sounding list of foundation sponsors. (Not long ago, I finally realized what the NEEKC Foundation really was.) No commercials, although there are obnoxious pledge drives a couple of times a year. "A fifty dollar donation will earn you a wonderful tote bag!"
WCPN and
WKSU are Cleveland's NPR stations. Buffalo, my smaller hometown up the road, is blessed with three NPR stations.