NPR's Collapse in anticlimatic

After rage-listening for almost a year now, not really understanding why I was listening or why I was raging, I discovered a few things. My local NPR affiliate, WCMU, pulled all music programming, including every program they had left that I enjoyed- World Cafe, Thistle and Shamrock, and the most egregious- Nightside, Jazz and Blues. I am still over here mourning Car Talk and Prairie Home Companion, so this news is quite devastating.

I can’t express how devastating it is, or why it is so. Nightside in particular was more than just a music program. I don’t think in the 40 or so years that it filled the wee hours of the morning with its beautiful wordless chaotic and quiet melodies that there was ever a night where I sat down to actively listen to it.

It was always just this sort of background institution, softening the nights when I was young and alone in my car falling asleep with a date; or stranded in strange kitchens in loft apartments in the city. It was a literal part of the night. It held it together with ambiance and class, no matter where you were. No wifi, no subscription needed, just a radio you could get almost for free at a yard sale.

The wee hours of the morning are very special hours. Magical hours. Right before sleep, the brain is open to all kinds of things the more sober morning variant of ourselves is not. Have we abandoned art? Have we abandoned the pursuit of truth, through it?

I read a bulletin from the college responding to questions of why all the music was scrapped. They said it was because their audience (I’m assuming this means donors) wanted just news, nothing but news, and more news. Because “insert stupid political speech here.”

Because donors, and because politics, one of the greatest free gifts we had- an institution dating back through my entire lifetime- is 86’d. I’m devastated.

As one does, I attempted to find a replacement on the dial. I live in rural northern michigan, so the important thing about our NPR station was that it was one of the few that always came in clear and came in strong, no matter where. The other stations are not what I remember.

There is an overwhelming amount of christian stations now, most of which feature someone talking about the most insane shit I have ever heard. Like “address unknown” from max payne levels of insane shit. It’s actually fascinating to listen to, but it doesn’t have that same magic that NPR had.

A lot of what saddens me is that I used to see NPR as everything good about left wing philosophy- arts, culture, novelty; exploring new ideas; diversity of individuals; quality; inspiration- and as I mentioned, an institution available at all times everywhere for free.

What a tremendous loss.

Last updated February 07, 2024