I am so disappointed that bbc news hour was discontinue. I felt they gave the best news coverage of world affairs the US is poor in covering. One of my favorite things about npr was they cared about covering the hurts and problems of people, who often get no light shown on them. Now it's replaced by more Chicago sillines, like 'do you or do you not like spiders'. Fluff over substance! I thoughts you respected the intelligence of your readers who want to be educated vs join the fray of nonsense entertainment which is rampant in all media channels. I won't be increasing my pledge, and might cancel. Please reconside. read more

As a remote worker, I have WBEZ on nearly all day. Too many guests ( mostly, uh, young) have the " like" tic. Most annoying is the voice pitch of the Sunday morning host, just can't listen to her. read more

How can you find something not to like about WBEZ 91.5? so many various programs even on the weekend, whether it be Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, or any of the other various programs on the weekends. And even on the weekends, don't know how long they go on with the, local Chicago news. if you are film fan, and can stay up late at Midnight late Frida night/early Saturday Morning is Filmspotting. read more

Producers of that radio show that's called, umm... it's called... Wait... Wait... Don't tell me... Oh! "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" These guys are the Public Radio affiliate for the Chicago area, and put out a lot of great programming! They have amazing on-air talent- Roy Blundt, Paula Poundstone, Mo Rocca, Bill Curtis, Peter Sagel- They all rock! Their other shows are quality- I've started listening to Curious City, which has questions about Chicago answered- a lot of them are about food and architecture. This American Life always has some thought provoking stuff, split up into a few short stories, with pitches for donations in between. Since they don't have regular commercials on here, they have to hit you up occasionally for cash. They have a few pledge drives annually, where they make you feel guilty for listening and not chipping in. They make it seem that Mo Rocca is living under a bridge with his meager pay from NPR, and Bill Curtis spends his spare time shaking a tin cup to support public radio programming. If you'd just chip in a few dollars a day, maybe Paula Poundstone could care for her cats better, or Tom Bodette could stay somewhere better than the Motel 6. You can tune into WBEZ on a smart speaker, or tune in locally. Some of their original programming is syndicated nationwide on your local NPR affiliate. The best thing about WBEZ is their employees, and the people who have worked to make this a great station. read more

W-Bourgeoise - still playing 24-7-365 chez E. I hate it when my dog listens all day then wants to discuss something that I haven't heard yet. Embarrassing. read more

OK- there're not many options out there for getting world news on the radio- this is it. For that it gets 2 stars. It'd get 5 stars but too many of their DJs sat at the thespian table in the high school cafeteria and the phony way they talk ruins it for me. Good: BBCnews, that goofy Canadian news program in the evenings, 848 has nice local stuff when I'm running late to work, that Texas financial guy, cartalk, keeping me company with the jazz master while driving home late at night, the sound of Gretchen Helfrich's voice- with its tint of arrogance while being so inviting, how does DJ Lady GH hide the essence of her soul on the radio like that? Bad: Wait wait..Don't tell me. Listening to these people struggle to be clever and intelligent is irritating- GEEKS. I HATE this show- my #1 gripe about NPR. Odyssey is gone- bad move, even if every topic discussion ultimately came down to how gender plays a role in whatever- no shit, "Let's talk about how gender played a role in defining who would become an 18th century astronomer." Terry Gross- her show's awesome for the content (a whole show interviewing Rob Halford from Judas Priest can't go wrong), but her voice and they way she speaks makes her sound like some kind of crystal worshiping mystic who overdosed on "Fresh Aire." This American Life- another great show but once again, host Ira Glass with that affected high school thespian, supergay sounding condescending phony way of talking- I prefer nails on a chalkboard. Mr T please come and get his voice out of my head! Other- They used to have this show, Schadenfreude. OH MY GOD! Listen to this show's attempt at being funny, "so there's a hippie, a layer, and a gen Xer." I can't say the show is bad because every time I've caught a bit of it I find that I can't change the channel- however much I want to, I can't. It's like "positive family radio", where I'm left on the edge of my seat waiting to see how much more horrible it can get. I suppose that means it's good. Overall- I slam WBEZ because I've listened to public radio elsewhere, and often the programming lineup is superior to ours, and most of the good shows come from other public radio stations somewhere else- I want the goofy pet lady from Madison on Saturdays meowing like a cat for example. Where's gay Dr. Zorba on "to your health?" Madison's NPR kicks Chicago's NPR's ass. read more

I wake up to WBEZ every morning. Weekdays, weekends, early flights, snowboarding trips - you name it - WBEZ is there to wake me up. If you're like me, you usually wake up to Lisa Labuz informing you about the important (and sometimes, not-so-important) issues of the day. Either way, my day never feels complete w/o her voice nudging me awake. I miss her terribly when I'm away. The only downside to this glorious service is the periodic begging of money they engage in. I understand the need for this. WBEZ is a non-profit organization which requires the funding from its listeners to keep the lights on. I get this. I support this. What I don't understand, however, is the complete lack of preparation they take when they go about asking people for money. WBEZ programs are well produced and enjoyable to listen to. It's clearly obvious a lot of thought and attention to detail went into making these programs. Therefore, I'm always left stunned and annoyed they turn into a bunch of babbling idiots when they ask for donations. Here's a tip from one has-been non-profit radio programmer - do some prep work. Write down the points you want to convey, clearly state your goal(s), and get on w/ it. Don't blabber on and on about how WBEZ needs the money (we all get that) and please, for all that is good and holy, DO NOT REPEATEDLY SHOUT TRIPLE EIGHT - BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. The very first thing taught to me when I was doing my first radio pledge drive was to articulate every single number to our call in line. Do not say "TRIPLE EIGHT". Say "eight eight eight". Do not say "nineteen". Say "one nine". Do not say "forty two". Say "four two". When you are trying to retain a telephone number and then go about punching it into your phone, your internal monologue will say "eight eight eight..." instead of "triple eight". Ok? I seethe w/ uncontrollable anger when you do this. Knock it right out. Also, do a better job of telling the listeners the benefits of donating. We (the listeners) know you need the money. Tell us what the money will be used for. Also, tell us what we'll get when we donate money. Skip the "puppies and rainbows" speech about how our money will keep the lights on at WBEZ. We know that. Tell us what swag we'll get when we give you $10. Then tell us what we'll get when we give you $20. How about $100? MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE FOR *US* NOT *YOU*. Do a better job of this WBEZ. I love you and what you do for me and my mornings. But seriously consider getting your act together when you ask for donations b/c right now, when you ask for donations, you immediately go from a well-oiled radio station to a bunch of clowns stammering their way out of speech class. read more

WBEZ is a disgrace to the very idea of public radio. I love public radio - everywhere else than here. Here it is an abomination and and embarrassment to the city of Chicago. My theory is this: the board (if there really is one) or the general manager has some kind of middle coast inferiority complex. We are not LA and we are not NYC and somehow that makes us bumpkins - or so the WBEZ management seems to feel. So in reaction they are on some kind of jihad to purge the station of anything the least bit folksy or human. Appalling. (and don't get me wrong, I don't miss the jazz at all. ) read more

I have been listening to Wbez/NPR for years. Great research great journalism great people on the air! Fresh air, morning edition,Wait wait don't tell me, and everything in between! Love the newest host of morning edition MARY Dixon, she was lynn Braemar's sidekick on Wxrt for years and honestly, she made that morning show! she accented him & made him funnier than he really was. without her, sorry Lin, but you're kind of flat. So I am trade her and Xrt and now I super dry her listening to be easy all morning long! Thank you Wbez/NPR and MARY Dixon, Ty Rizzo, Terry Gross, Ari Shipiro & many others,for bringing real speech, humor, compassion and the truth to radio! read more

The most enriching program: the world jazz program they have at midnight on Mondays. Good for enhancing one's circadian rhythms. The most entertaining: the news programs. Especially in the morning: 15 minutes don't pass before they dutifully evoke The Economy as if it's a religious/erotic deity. They converse passionately about how The Economy is making people feel and how they feel about It; and find out and issue the latest findings as to its shape and size; as if to curry favor, hoping for its blessing. read more

**UPDATE** I saw the host of "this american life" drinking at the rainbo club on Damen and almost pee'd myself. What a cool dude! ____ I really like WBEZ for the most part. I listen every day, and the only time I get thoroughly annoyed is when they do the week long marathons. The conversation is extremely irritating. Otherwise, love "wait wait don't tell me", "this american life", "all things considered", "eight forty-eight", and "sound opinions". I've learned allot from NPR, for instance a story about a snake called Houdini who swallowed an electric blanket and had to be operated on. yay read more

5 glowing reddish/orange stars for 91.5 FM. Before moving to Chicago, I lived in Peoria and their programming was piss poor. Not really their fault, they were working with a MUCH smaller budget. Chicago's public radio is amazing. Sometimes if I'm driving some short distance, I avoid tuning in because even thirty seconds of listening gets me hooked and I end up having to (true story) wait around in a parking lot for twenty-five minutes, finish the story, then apologize to wherever I was going and blame being late on the absurd bumper to bumper traffic. My favorites: Resound Fresh Air Radio Lab This American Life Wait Wait Don't Tell Me read more

I'm not enamored of ALL their programming--I tend to run screaming from the room whenever Joe Frank comes on, which fortunately is when I should be in bed asleep anyway--but they're really professional and pleasant to deal with one on one. My book just came out and I went to their offices for the first time, to drop off a review copy. The receptionist and reporter were charming and unintimidating, and made me feel like a human being and not some crawling object approaching the giant bastion of public media. Really a positive experience all around, and the view out the open window of the frozen harbor and lake made me want to work there, in any capacity, crawling object included (any job openings for a displaced field mouse)? . read more

It's hard to give them four stars during pledge week - that quarter-yearly time when I wish they'd Ess the Eff up. Still, they ONLY thing that would make it stronger is if they'd get Bob Edwards' morning program in syndication. From All things Considered to This American Life to Sound Opinions, WBEZ is the S-H-E-E-T! Keep it up. Oh and if I ever hit the numbers, I'll make enough of a donation so that you don't have to use so much air time for people's beggin' asses! read more

This seems to be the preferred spot for reviews of the radio quiz show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." I am a loyal listener (it is either on at home on Saturday mornings, or on the car radio as I make my Saturday morning getaway to Michigan or Wisconsin.) I have also attended at least a dozen of the Thursday tapings or the Millennium Park shows. To me, this is hands down one of the best Chicago Original forms of entertainment, whether you live here or are visiting. Although the show is taped for later airing: -you are part of a live audience. -It's cheap to go: $25.00 full price, half-price on Goldstar.com -easy to get there, in the Chase Auditorium, next to all the train lines -the show is well-run and the taping isn't too long. 2 hours approx. -you can hit the free buffet before the show at Rosebud Theater District. -the show is at 7PM, so not too early, and not out too late. Finally, you get to ask questions at the end, and chat with the guests. How cool is that? It's just one, fun, irreverently hilarious time. A real must for both turistas and townies. read more

I can't help it...I MUST turn on chicago public radio every morning. It's like a crackhead needing a hit upon waking. I love the morning edition and BBC portions enough to overlook "wait wait don't tell me" and "Car Talk". It's pointless to turn on any of the other major news media outlets on cable in the morning since all you will get is commercials and tripe. I can then go about the rest of my day thinking I am relatively well informed. I forgive them for their periodic 15 minute pieces on some country's ailing economy (the answer of course is always US funding), the whole is good enough to make me sit through the bad parts. But man, the sound of those car talk guys' chortling makes me black out and then wake up wake up bloody and naked next to a half-eaten wild boar. read more

Love is not a strong enough word to describe my feelings for 91.5 FM WBEZ radio. I actually give them money with every fundraising drive since I listen to them so often. The news and special programs open the mind, and I actually respect that they will occasionally air uncensored interviews, especially when talking with soldiers, etc. I like both the local and NPR programming. I especially enjoy Gretchen Helfrich's show 'Oddysey' and 'Fresh Aire' with Terry Gross (she did a great interview with Jack & Meg White a couple months ago). They regularly have David Sedaris reading from his books on 'This American Life.' I get rather wholesome on the weekends with 'Car Talk' and 'Prairie Home Companion.' The music selection is also stimulating - all varieties of jazz and some other sounds, like salsa or worldbeat. read more

I am a prisoner of WBEZ. We have a love/hate relationship and I can't seem reclaim any ground I've lost in my battle to separate myself from my need to listen to it constantly. Its gotten so bad, I even make my dog listen to it during the day when I at work. Listening to NPR for over two decades has made me a very warped person. That being said, I don't love WBEZ. Sure, there's some good programming but anything produced in Chicago worth listening to is sold to other markets. I miss my WBUR, my WHYY, my KQED and KCRW. At least WBUR streams on the web, so I can listen at work. But even that's lost its magic.... read more

Informative, entertaining, and some stuff you just won't hear anywhere else. And then on top of all that, there's the member card benefits. I am a little bummed that they are doing away with a lot of the jazz programming, but I have confidence that they're replacing it with something comparably good. Become a member! http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/support/individual.asp read more

There is a reason that NPR is slashing the budget, cutting jobs, and it is that the quality of the broadcasting has eroded, the reported is biased and ideological, the intelligence of the hosts and journalists has declined, and it has become quite simply WOKE driven. The examples are too numerous to describe, but to give one example: last year when a host was interviewing an abortion rights advocate, she never questioned the claim that crack cocaine does not negatively impact fetal development and championed cannabis as a remedy for hyper-emesis gravidum, when in fact ANY exposure to cannabis can interfere with fetal CNS development and use of cannabis can induce a cyclic hyper-emesis syndrome. NPR is no longer of the people, for the people, and by people, but only for the indoctrinated, and serves simply as an echo chamber for the far left of center. (I should note, I have never voted for a Republican, my mother was a Jew on the front lines of the Civil Rights marches in the 1960's, my half-sisters are both non-white, and my brother is married to an Asian-American, and blah, blah, blah.) read more

I love the shows on Chicago Public Radio. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, This American Life etc. all make life a little more enjoyable. read more

WBEZ just makes me happy. From Morning Edition, to Fresh Air, Car Talk, This American Life, Wait Wait, Resound, BBC, All Things Considered....its just the quintessential makings of a great day. They bring you news, weather, and world events sans the bullshit of many television news programs. Love it. read more

I am a proud member. I listen every day. I wake to it, get all my pertinent information from it, am stimulated by it. Hooray public radio! http://www.wbez.org/ read more

I guess the fact that I never listened to NPR until I lived in Chicago makes me a little biased, or maybe just uninformed, but I love WBEZ. More often than not, it's on the radio at our shop, and my patrner and I literally set our days to it. And let me tell you, there's nothing scarier than being completely behind on an order and hearing the 'All Things Considered' theme song. Our reaction is typically "Holy shit! All Things Considered ALREADY?!?!?!" I agree that some of the programming is a bit on the dull side, but again, I don't have much to compare it to. I love Saturday mornings (from Car Talk to This American Life) but sometimes I have to wonder just how big of a nerd Jerome MacDonald really is. Or is it Neil Connant? I swear, the NPR guys all sound the same to me. And anyway, how can you hate the station that brings us Wait Wait? I would like to apologize to CPR for not being able to renew my membership. I will again, someday, I promise. . . read more

I love This American Life. I love Ira Glass. I'll admit it, I have something of a small (and largely creepy) crush on him. While I am a champion of crazy mood changes, TAL is capable of taking it to the extreme - there have been many episodes that have dragged me through every major emotion possible. In the end I sigh and sit and mull. read more

This review is for "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" on NPR- I love this show. I have yet to go to a taping but I would really love to go watch one. I heard if you volunteer for a show you can get watch the show for free. I would download the podcast of "Wait Wait" because I don't have a radio unless I was driving but I rarely drive on Saturday mornings. I would put it on my ipod shuffle (and by shuffle, I mean, I literally have to shuffle through 250 songs to get to this show...this is what happens when you don't have a screen to find anything....)and listen to it on the way to work and back. It is entertaining, funny, witty, educational, etc. etc. They would have special guests and they're just hilarious. Everyone just get on this! Another great thing about Chicago and NPR :) read more

OK, fine. You can pick away at CPR, and believe me, I do in this review. But the bottom line is that CPR is, without a doubt, the most consistently good radio station around. As far as Public Radio is concerned, it is well above average. They report on important issues, give a global perspective, and categorically provoke thought. BUT, it's not ALWAYS something worth listening to... I mean sometimes they have stories where they go around town asking stupid jerks what "message you would send to the politicians that serve your district or ward." Invariably, the answer is something like this: "Oh, I would TELL him to get INVOLVED with the COMMUNITY because you can't SERVE THE PEOPLE unless you..." Insert a cliche at this point e.g. "dig in and do the dirty work, know your surroundings, try to get the job done, etc." My take on this: there is some valuable local programming, of course. But, no matter how much Pilsen is "up and coming" or how fascinating the National Museum of Mexican Art is (pretty cool, actually), NOBODY gives a rat's ass how Tina P. views politics in her area and she should NOT be on the radio, even for a 30 second soundbite to prove that the producer mingled with the common-folk and "dug in" to do his "hard work." Either that or they mar an otherwise insightful and thought-provoking piece on the plight of some obscure third-world group by delving so deeply into the minutiae that they lose the listener. AND when they talk about sports... well let's just say it's about as quality a sports conversation as a group of old women playing bridge or canasta or something. And the name Kai Ryssdal annoys me. Sorry Kai. But like I said above. 90% of the time they're dead on and that's way better than any other BS station out there, unless you're a die-hard douche on the left or right and listen to guys like Michael Moore or Bill O'Reilly. read more

God, I love this station...although I'm a bit annoyed with the reception in my bedroom right now. I'll be at my closet picking out something to wear to work (morning ritual) and it will go static-y on me. I'll walk over to the radio to adjust and it's fine. And repeat. I'm not kidding... But who cares about that! I went to my second taping of "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" last night and had a ball (even though I am crowd-skittish when sober.) This was the free taping in Millenium Park and I am happy to say it was pretty easy to hear and the show came across exactly as it does on the radio. I will say that it's a bit more fun to see it at the Chase Auditorium, but who's to quibble with free and a good excuse to picnic at the park? I actually am very sad that I have never called to participate because I gotta say, Carl Kassell on my cellphone would be awesome! Peter Sagal is a real talent--smooth and witty as they come--but I found it amusing that I could repeat his intro to the audience even though I'd only seen the show live once previously. But the "socially unsuccessful in high school" bit is funny... I've become such a slave to my iPod and scheduling, that I am ashamed to say that I mostly listen to this show and most others via podcast. On the other hand, I never miss anything funny! If I had to rank which NPR programs I like best, I'd probably go with Fresh Air, This American Life and then Wait Wait. Not a big fan of TAL on Showtime though and I feel bad about that. I hear there's a new sitcom in the works that will model Car Talk. Curious about that. read more

Best news station on the air. You won't hear endless chatter about celebrity drama or Viagra adverts. News focuses on the immediately local and worldwide. Traffic and Hezbollah; stem cell research and recycling in Chicago. Pretentious? A wee bit. Try listening to the BBC hour and Cartalk, and piano jazz on Sundays. This American Life happens to be my favorite at the moment. And you can't go wrong with A Prairie Home Companion. And unlike some of the reviewers below, I happen to like Wait Wait-Don't Tell Me. It's not that bad! I do miss some shows from when I lived closer to the quad cities, Dr. Zorba in particular. And what happened to Science Friday? Yet even with all one's gripes about the station, NPR Chicago is an invaluable news resource, an excellent place to find insightful, intelligent talk. read more

Sadly, the local branch of national public radio is no longer about this great nation, no longer about the greater public, as the programming has taken a sharp and apparently irreversible turn away from dispassionate and objective and balanced journalism, free of prejudice and agendas, to an echo chamber for the WOKE left. Nearly every time I listen, the piece has a queer tilt, or a Black tilt, or a Latinx (sic) tilt, and its coverage of Roe borders on the unethical, allowing one advocate to claim that smoking marijuana is good and acceptable during gestation and the cocaine is not linked to post-natal complications. It's almost become comical, almost a parody, as if the radio waves were commandeered by the sophomore class of Oberlin College, but devoid of wit, of insight, of inventiveness, or of intelligence. At least, judging from the last couple of months, the New York Times has backed away from an unrelenting and insidious WOKE spin to its reporting, thus emphasizing, at least in these turblant and tribal times, its integrity as a legacy publication. BY the way, I speak as an individual who by and intents and purpose would be 'labeled' as progressive and liberal and Democratic; but I am simply one who wants my sources of information to be even-handed, capturing differences of opinion and interpretation, so that I can arrive at my own well reasoned perspectives and views Real disappointment. read more

Used to be a great station, full of in-depth, interesting coverage of news, politics, science, the arts, religion/spirituality, etc., but has over the recent few years become a cross between: 1) Reality TV for your radio, with a heavy rotation of personal storytelling, trying but failing to imitate the production quality of "This American Life." Who cares what you had for lunch? 2) The "progressive" alternative to FOX News, with an increasingly blatant left-wing bias on the choice of what stories air, what points of view are upheld, who is chosen for interviews (and how interview questions are framed), etc. Regardless of what my personal politics are, this is unethical. WBEZ used to be a great station to listen to, but is increasingly becoming junk-entertainment and panderage for hipster Millennials who can't maintain focus on straightforward news and culture. read more

This is the only radio station I listen to in Chicago and I tune in daily. Amazing original program as well as your NPR/PRI favorites. I grew up listening to Michigan Public Radio and I have to say the programing at WBEZ blows them out of the water. read more

I listen to BBC world service overnight from midnight to 5AM. The quality of the signal has been extremely poor lately. I always have it on my bedside radio as I sleep and the glitches and silences in the program became so horrible that I got up and put it on my computer. Even online the problem persisted. I had to switch to an online feed of the show from the BBC website and it played perfectly. So clearly the problem is with the folks at Navy Pier. What gives? Also, in the past couple of months I have been listening at midnight and have heard up to 17 minutes of dead air. I am giving WBEZ one star for quality of the signal. I love the programming. I hope they fix this soon. read more

I never thought I would get into NPR. I always thought it was for lakefront yuppie types. Then I started hearing "This American Life" and "All Things Considered." Pretty soon I developed an interest in Marketplace and Prairie Home Companion as well. I don't mind the jazz being gone, since I never was into jazz anyway. The talk format is fine with me. I feel well-informed and in touch with things going on around the world by listening regularly. read more

Five stars for theirs -- and NPR's -- new reporting and minus two stars for the fact that they are removing ALL music programming from thier station. read more

WBEZ is wonderful. clear, upbeat, interesting personalities, news, weather, traffic. This American Life is also a program I tune into. Way to go!! keep up the good work, and help support WBEZ/NPR. - Real, public, local, radio - read more

Do you like hearing the same headlines read three times in half an hour? This is the spot for you. They got a whole lot of time to fill, TWENTY FOUR HOURS every day! How are they supposed to do it, they don't have the luxury of fifteen minutes every hour on ads. They're so desperate to fill it up all that time with soothing chatter that they'll give it to any second stringer who can tell their target audience of the self consciously aware baby-boomers what they want to hear. The line up is just thoughtless. Why is the lead into the BBC newshour, a few minutes of NPR news, so you can hear the same headlines read nice and civil like "Jimmy Carter is sick in Cleveland" twice? That's just a waste. The local shows are dreadful. 848 is so bad. They had an interview with a reporter who said something like "If there were a woman running for mayor she would talk about helping the children" and the interviewer just let her get away with it. That's really essentializing. Sarah Palin, the most famous female politician in the country and she hasn't spent any time talking about "the children" in years. Toni Preckwinkle will be elected President of the County Board and she hasn't talked about "the children" either. The choices for shows they syndicate are really sad. Whenever some nineteen sixties version of Matthew Sweet dies Terri Gross, the very model of baby boomer taste replays an old interview. Um Terri ever think of interviewing anyone who started working after I was born? Oh okay, she does interview the guys who did "The Wire" One show on at night, featured a half hour long interview with a Canadian talk show host talking about having a talk show in Canada. (How meta!) As far as I can tell his show does not get any airplay in the USA. Sorry can't imagine why I should care. But hey, if a Canadian talk show host you never head of telling you he can't be just like Johnny Carson makes you feel cultured. Then you'll love this station. Two stars cause of car talk. read more

Love it. Most people don't seem to like the lack of music on BEZ, but I don't mind it. I've lived in too many places where the NPR affiliate only plays classical music (maybe some lite jazz), except for Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and probably Prairie Home Companion on Saturday night. WBEZ has created some truly amazing original programming, and for that it deserves 6 stars. read more

The schedule is repetitive. News, news, news. There are online stations with a lot more variety. www.franceculture.fr is my favorite but in French. Why not lose The World, Here And Now, TED, Moth, New Yorker, Latino USA and the BBC News Hour, and use the money to pay for locally produced content. Pet peeve - the affected stumbling hem and haw delivery of This American Life and its emulators. read more

An indispensable part of my life. I can't live without NPR, and the Chicago affiliate is a good one. They take the time to go in depth into stories, in a way that no other Chicago media outlet does. I wish I had the time to listen to The Morning Shift and The Afternoon Shift, but I have to earn a living. read more