Friday, February 20, 2015

Rediscovering the Radio - by Lily

In my mind radio is permanently connected to the car. I get in the car and turn on the engine, the radio is on; I don’t even have to push a button. And that seems to be the only time that radio exists to me in my busy life. And I surely enjoyed the company of the radio on my long commute. However, since I changed job a couple of years ago, with the shortened commute and non-rush hour timing I wasn’t able to tune in to my favorite programs in the car anymore. As time went on, I realized I really missed the programs I used to listen to. News I can catch at many other places, what I really missed are the science and technology discussions, interviews on art and music, touching stories from story corp,  and market analysis.


What really motivated me to find a solution to this issue was the frustration over the unpredictability of KERA’s airing time for Intelligence Squared program. One week on then 3 months off is just too much for me. I looked it up online, and there were many past episodes for me to browse and select at my finger tip. And I found the perfect timing for it, on weekends while I plan and prepare meals for the coming week. While my hands are busy with the kitchen chores, my mind would be occupied by the interesting debates over a wide range of topics. Be it GMO, common core, or income inequality and American mobility, the facts and opinions articulated by the debaters inform me and engage my thoughts in a variety of societal issues. During my morning exercise time I would catch up with shorter programs such as All Tech Considered, Terry Gross’s Fresh Air, or Kai Ryssdal’s Market Place. The freedom of picking out a program and listening to it any time is very convenient and in my opinion a great way to keep those radio programs alive.

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