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This American Life podcast needs help

PopTodd

By PopTodd,
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PopTodd

PopTodd

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if you heard this week they are having layoffs, etc.

I could not survive my commute without this show.

All they need (seriously) is like a buck a person.

I just went nuts and gave $5

 

you can do it here

 

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

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PopTodd

PopTodd

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yikes. i don't listen to NPR that much, but i have a buddy who's wife does the news for the chicago affiliate.

 

I'm in Chicago and I listen all the time.

What's your buddy's wife's name?

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LouieB

LouieB

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This is very fucked up. This American Life is a huge show not only on BEZ, but generally on NPR (I have never seen the TV show) and it seems that with all the begging that both BEZ and NPR always are doing that they could find a few bucks to post a free podcast of this stuff. Since they play it at least twice a week I never download it, but I understand why others listen to it that way. I know NPR is listener supported, etc, but to be begging for more money at this point seems tacky and unnecessary. The show is already produced and on the air; how much more money could it cost to post it as a podcast? Plenty of other podcasts are given away free and have a fraction of the audience that TAL has. Crazy.

 

LouieB

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OOO

OOO

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This is very fucked up. This American Life is a huge show not only on BEZ, but generally on NPR (I have never seen the TV show) and it seems that with all the begging that both BEZ and NPR always are doing that they could find a few bucks to post a free podcast of this stuff. Since they play it at least twice a week I never download it, but I understand why others listen to it that way. I know NPR is listener supported, etc, but to be begging for more money at this point seems tacky and unnecessary. The show is already produced and on the air; how much more money could it cost to post it as a podcast? Plenty of other podcasts are given away free and have a fraction of the audience that TAL has. Crazy.

 

LouieB

 

I have been listening to This American Life's free podcast for a while via iTunes. Did they change the set up?

 

Also:

 

" It costs the radio station around $150,000 per year just for the internet bandwidth to deliver the free podcast and web stream of This American Life. That’s not staff. Not computers. Just the bandwidth. "

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Reni

Reni

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News and Notes doesn't air in Chicago now - but I think it used to. I just heard it here in STL a few days ago.

 

I have been listening to TAL via podcast for a long time now and they hit up podcast listeners every six months or so for donations for bandwidth. I still get my TAL through iTunes.

 

Maybe WBEZ would do better if they didn't give out those stupid coffee mugs (after you tell them not to send you one). :P

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LouieB

LouieB

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News and Notes doesn't air in Chicago now - but I think it used to. I just heard it here in STL a few days ago.

 

I have been listening to TAL via podcast for a long time now and they hit up podcast listeners every six months or so for donations for bandwidth. I still get my TAL through iTunes.

 

Maybe WBEZ would do better if they didn't give out those stupid coffee mugs (after you tell them not to send you one). :P

 

With regards to conspiracies and BEZ; had they not consistantly cancelled music programming over the last 10 years (now nearly totally) I would have more sympathy. Yea, okay, I am sort of down on the management there anyway, but I DO give money to them anyway because I like much of their programming and it is the right thing to do. But they repeat too many shows and could really use the music, which is what many public radio stations do have in various parts of the country. And since the talk is repeated serveral times it pushes out other good shows that could be aired. (Okay I am bitter that they dumped Blues Before Sunrise...) Luckily some of the shows that BEZ has dumped (like BBS which is on WDCB) can be heard on other outlets, but BEZ kind of has a monopoly here in Chicago. I just figure my regular donation covers all things including bandwidth for web stuff. Now if they would just increase the bandwidth of their programming too.

 

So TAL is free through ITunes?? Crazy. I know they have lots of ads.....

 

LouieB

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Reni

Reni

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I actually like the fact they play less music these days. I used to get so frustrated that weekday evenings were filled with music shows. There are plenty of stations that play music - and only one good talk station. They still have World Cafe and Radio M and a few others. I don't mind a little music here and there - but the weeknight lineup was not to my liking. When I moved to Chicago from STL I was pretty unimpressed with WBEZ, since KWMU in St Louis has a great NPR/PRI lineup. Then again, that's just my preference. :D

 

Now, if they dumped eight-forty-eight for some music programming? I'd give you that one. :P

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LouieB

LouieB

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I actually like the fact they play less music these days. I used to get so frustrated that weekday evenings were filled with music shows. There are plenty of stations that play music - and only one good talk station. They still have World Cafe and Radio M and a few others. I don't mind a little music here and there - but the weeknight lineup was not to my liking. When I moved to Chicago from STL I was pretty unimpressed with WBEZ, since KWMU in St Louis has a great NPR/PRI lineup. Then again, that's just my preference. :D

 

Now, if they dumped eight-forty-eight for some music programming? I'd give you that one. :P

Needless to say the music programming on BEZ even in the old days wasn't perfect, but they did tend to play stuff that wasn't being played on other stations (world music, blues, jazz, celtic, with some of the shows being better than others such as Mambo express, Afro-pop worldwide, blues before sunrise, thistle and shamrock, piano jazz, etc.). I have a long standing grudge against BEZ that goes back quite a few years when Tony Malatia pulled Stuart Rosenberg off the air; his show was a great mix of all kinds of stuff and he was local and fun. The jazz programming also became fairly narrow as well, but even now there isn't really all that much jazz programming on Chicago radio; pretty much NUR during the day and DCB much of the time. DCB actually has a bunch of the shows that used to be on BEZ so that helps.

 

I just think there is plenty of room for talk (actually some of the talk isn't that thrilling on BEZ either including the aforementioned 848). I know BEZ HAS to play some of these shows twice (PHC for example). NPRs in other cities make room for music shows that are locally produced.

 

I don't know. I just think BEZ could be a whole lot better than it is, but maybe it really can't be. Frankly without TAL BEZ wouldn't be what it is today, which is why I suppose they can try and grab more money from the podcast fans. And even though I like Wait Wait, I see no reason it has to be played more than once a weekend. (Is there a podcast of that too?? I think so...}

 

LouieB

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