Nashville Public Radio-WPLN 90.3 and 1430 a.m.

OMG, OMG, OMG! I am such a groupie for NPR!
I think this makes me a big nerd but I love it. On many occasions, I’ve found I’m much better informed, earlier about everything from world news to new books than many people I know and it’s all because NPR still has news that matters. I mostly listen to and from work and I enjoy Frank DuFord’s comments on Wednesdays even though I’m not a big sports person.
I first started listening because of a story about cats living in Rome. I like that NPR does stories like that; just little, fun, «hey, this exists in the world» kind of stuff but also keeps us posted on current events. They do a good job of picking up news early and following it through to the end. Thanks, NPR :)

I’m still not a fan of NPR, but I miss listening to my former news radio station KCBS (which I know I can stream on the computer).
After having listened to WPLN’s sister classical music station and not liking how scarce the news updates were, I decided to try out this station.
Thus far, I have only listened to their Morning Edition program. I managed to escape having to listen to their other programs. I like straight news with not too much editorial/​commentary/​in-​depth analyses. When I’m ready to start my day, I turn this off.

This station never fails to provide me with up-​to-​date news, thought-​provoking commentary, and delightful miscellany to feed my random access knowledge. It really is one of the few news sources left that maintains journalistic integrity and doesn’t lapse into partisan bickering or, worse, pulpy entertainment-​style coverage of serious news issues. They don’t dwell on the inane (except on all things considered, in which case it’s welcome!). Prairie Home Companion is wonderful.
Without them, I might go insane.

I have a college professor to thank for turning me on to this radio station as I drug my unhappy butt into my 8am MWF class freshman year. Morning edition was always on the radio while we did our studio work, and while the lull of the voices and music made me want to go to sleep, the stories eventually got to me. This was real news that wasn’t laced with celebrity news every other segment. I’m now addicted. I would much rather get my news from NPR than most television stations, where they let any idiot give an opinion.
This American Life and Morning Edition are my absolute favorites, and I also enjoy the puzzle shows on Sunday mornings. I’ve also caught my beloved David Sedaris and Jack Handy on days when I was just flipping through my programmed stations, furthering my devotion.
If no shows are playing, you’re probably listening to classical music, and while this age of Britany Spears seems to continue to rage on, it’s nice to catch some Beethoven sometimes. Just by listening to it on the way to work I can tell a difference in my demeanor than if I just turned on the local rock station.
I probably owe my good blood pressure to NPR.

This is where I go when I get pissed with CNN or all the other mainstream media for filling our heads full of CRAP! I am sick of commentary, sick or windbags expressing their opinions without any real qualifications, and alas Public Radio is a breath of fresh air. You aren’t going to get exciting headlines like people being rescued from a water mane flooding a street. You will get some compelling in depth reporting on world issues, political issues, etc. without the sensationalism. It’s a little less exciting but more eye opening than whether Brad Pitt and Angelina’s marriage is on the rocks or not.
Somebody get me off this soap box and get me a beer, I’m annoying myself.

WPLN added its AM talk station in 2002 (1430AM), and I’m so glad they did. I’ve been trying to listen to them for years, and while I can pick it up fine in my neighborhood, it hasn’t been until very recently that I could still tune in on my drive to Murfreesboro, or south of Nashville. I don’t know if they have beefed up their signal, but whatever they have done, I’m grateful.
I was already a Morning Edition and All Things Considered addict, from the FM station, and I am always disappointed when they start playing music, not that I don’t like classical, but listening to it and driving is not a good combination if I want to stay awake. So now I can listen to interesting non-​crazy-​right-​wing-​lunatic talk shows all day long. Yesterday they were talking to fungal experts about what kind of mushrooms to cook. On 9 – 11, they had a call in topic: Do we talk about 9 – 11 too much or too little?
It’s nice to hear intelligence over the airwaves, and I’m glad Nashville has made a space for it and WPLN recognized a dire need for it in this area.

I am a bona fide NPR addict, and Nashville’s public radio affiliate certainly doesn’t disappoint. While I admittedly mostly get my NPR fixes online, I always tune into WPLN 90.3 (or its AM counterpart 1430) whenever I drive.
WPLN offers all the popular national programs like This American Life, Car Talk, Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me, Fresh Air, Prairie Home Companion and Radiolab as well as local news and programs. Local hosts Nina Cardona and Anita Bugg report the news with smooth, practiced voices, and they provide local stories as well as national news.
While Nashville’s list of locally broadcast shows isn’t extensive, it certainly provides the local flavor you’d expect from Music City. Among the local programs is Bluegrass Breakdown, which is hosted by Dave Higgs and features some pretty impressive bluegrass acts. When WPLN isn’t broadcasting national and local news and music programs, they typically play Classical music, which sometimes provides a much-​needed break from typical radio formats.