Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009 | Different direction. My “radio” is the internet, “turned on” most of the day, tuned in to stations around the country and around the world for both talk and music. Sure I miss talk about local issues, but then San Diegans mostly tune out to local issues. Even local talk radio, at least in the past year, has focused on national political issues and more general social concerns (especially in conservative talk that is obsessed with sex and killing Christ in Christmas). Many talk shows across the country often have excellent guests that you just don’t hear often enough even on cable TV (San Diego talk radio is pretty low level on this score). Anyway, the traffic reports in Portland, bitter cold weather forecasts from Fargo, or the accents from New York are refreshing changes of pace
By the way, I used to listen to Taylor and Larson when in the car, and occasionally I tune in to the righties for a few minutes of laughs. KPBS does a pretty good job of local talk, but it is humorless and has a dull edge, although the Union-Tribune’s Bob Kittle is hilarious. Pacifica’s KPFK from Los Angeles is slightly less dull. For contrast, listen to KQED from San Francisco or on commercial radio, Stephanie Miller in Los Angeles.