NPR, a gold mine - by Lily

As a member supporting National Public Radio, my car radio is always tuned in to KERA, our local NPR station. I enjoy listening to the news and analyses during my commute. But I enjoy more about the interviews with artists, conversations with news editors and librarians, stories about ordinary people’s lives, buzzes from recent technology breakthrough and science discoveries, commentaries from columnists and professors on various social issues, and of course market analyses from the “Market Place” team at APM (American Public Media). These programs make me aware of things I have not paid attention before, they tickle my brain to think about issues from different perspective, and they provide me talking topics.

Sometimes I go home and ask my family to listen from NPR website on an interesting or funny episode I heard that day. Sometimes I’ll request a book from the library based on NPR’s recommendation. A few weeks ago I found just the perfect gift for my little “bookworm” while browsing NPR’s website: a bibliochaise, an armchair equipped with bookshelves all around it! It looks great and so much fun, the only trouble is it’s made in Italy and costs over €5000 :)

My most recent finding is “Brainpickings.org”, a website devoted to enrich your mental pool of resources and empower you to turn them into creativity. The website has many interesting pieces topics ranging from “art, design, science, technology, philosophy, history, politics, psychology, sociology, ecology, anthropology, you-name-itology.” Its bookshelf has many interesting readings. Only if I have more time ...

NPR programs are above and beyond the news update, that’s where I find my treasures.