Public Radio Redux

It's happened to the best of us: uber-hip friends stop by unannounced. There's no time to throw together a play list. Setting iTunes to random is not an option (I'm still living down the Cat Stevens incident of 2006). Luckily, the clever folks at Minnesota Public Radio's The Current have a solution.

Just embed this handy widget in your dashboard and viola - your taste in music is instantly respectable. If something mortifying does happen to pop up, simply click on their schedule and blame it on whoever is in the DJ booth that hour.

Thanks to John Moe for the heads up and for making me chortle at my computer on a daily basis.

When I was 13 my aunt used to taunt me with tales of seeing Leonard Cohen live on stage in the '70s. Desperate to hear his deep, sad voice with the all consuming passion that only a music-obsessed teenager can experience, I daydreamed about storming the Buddhist monastery where he lived and demanding a personal concert.

Leonard Cohen is back on tour in the U.S. for the first time in 15 years and I still can't hear him play. Rather than bombard his mailbox with letters insisting that he reroute his tour to Asheville (I have grown up a bit), I must rely on NPR's Live in Concert series to save the day. I suggest you do the same.

(photo by Michael Foley)

We're all a little desperate for some good news these days. Hoping it'll come from Youngstown, Ohio is a lot to ask. WCPN's Dan Bobkoff upped the ante even further with some creative editing tricks that really catch the ear:

- No stodgy acts and tracks here. The Youngstown Business Incubator CEO's voice fades in and out of Bobkoff's narration, making you feel like you're touring the building along side them.

- The phone rings in an echo-y lobby. You can hear from the way the receptionist's voice bounces off of the glass windows that this is a fancy tech company.

- The tap tap of start-up employees playing foosball (Sounds like 1997!)

Throw in an interesting and surprising topic, brimming with good news and snappy writing, and I dare this piece not to win an AP award.

Okay, so it was really the wooly mammoth's bones that were found deep below a Los Angeles parking garage, but throw in a sabertooth tiger, a short faced bear, and a sloth or two and you've got yourself a real paleontological find.

Just listen to the president of the company that found the fossils squeal with glee on All Things Considered. It makes me want to dig out my Fisher Price paleontology kit and start digging up every parking garage in town.

(photo by rpongsaj)

NPR's David Greene is on a road trip. If you're expecting handfulls of refrigerator magnets and cheesy postcards, think again. David Greene is also on a mission.

During Obama's first 100 days, Greene is criss-crossing the country to find out how folks from Michigan to Florida, California to DC, are making due in the new economy.

If the thought of another depressing story about the recession makes you want to bury your face in a pillow full of cyanide, check out Greene's latest dispatch from Atlanta. You could describe it as downright uplifting. America's 20 and 30-somethings may be pouring coffee and collecting scrap metal, but you can't say we're not resourceful.

NPR is even trying out some new media apps for the series. You can follow David Greene on Twitter and see photos of the people he meets on Flickr. The interactive map may be a bit dicey (tonight it alternates between a cluster of dots surrounding New Orleans and nothing at all) but you have to give NPR credit for giving the series a life beyond the airwaves.

(photo by Ciccone Youth)

Boys play with trucks. Girls love the color pink. These cliches have dissolved into stereotypes, but most parents would still put their child into one of two categories: male or female.

For some kids, it's just not that simple. There's a growing transgendered youth movement which encourages children as young as elementary school to live their innate gender.

In this week's episode of This American Life, independent producer Mary Beth Kirchner documents one weekend in the lives of two families grappling with the reality of raising a girl who was born a boy.

Kirchner's documentary is sensitive and honest, allowing the 8-year-olds to speak for themselves. They giggle and gossip, but are far more self-reflective than your average second graders.

You may doubt their parents' motives. You may wonder how their lives will change once puberty hits. But no matter how you feel about the issue, you will leave this piece with a much better understanding of what it's like to grow up transgendered. That's the mark of a true documentary.

(photo by dodidoune)

If you went to elementary school in the United States, you likely made a Lincoln Hat. This sheet of black construction paper held together with multiple layers of scotch tape was supposed to teach us about equality, freedom, and any number of Lincoln-esque qualities.

On Lincoln's 200th birthday, WBEZ revived the Lincoln Hat tradition by asking its producers, editors, and other staffers to strike a pose while wearing a handmade Lincoln hat and beard. The powder blue construction paper may be a bit controversial, but never doubt the power of scotch tape to raise newsroom morale.

(photo by Andrew Gill)

Roses, chocolate, and those weird candy hearts that taste like chalk. Year after year, we fall back on the same expensive, unimaginative Valentine's Day traditions.

What Would Rob Do is determined to help us save money and surprise our beloved with some unique gifts, courtesy of DIY expert Michele Beschen.

Heart shaped tree branches and a batch of candy topped cupcakes are certainly do-able. Recreating our first date would be brilliant, if only I could travel through time and space to re-live Quintessence's glory days.

What are you doing to celebrate (or purposefully ignore) Valentine's Day?

(photo by Sister72)

When times are tough, the tough drink beer. At least that's what Grupo Modelo is banking on as it builds a giant new Corona factory just south of the Texan border.

NPR's John Burnett stopped by the construction site as well the much smaller 512 Brewery in Austin, TX to find out why beer sales are staying buoyant.

There are some great sounds in this piece: the bubbling of a fermentation tank, the tha-whap tha-whap of hurried construction, and an enthusiastic bartender ready to serve up a long list of delicious, "recession-resistant" beer.

(photo by Virginia Zuluaga)

I was first introduced to Mark Bittman when I received How to Cook Everything as a gift about five years ago. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say it changed my life. A columnist for the New York Times, Bittman is a food genius who is able to write recipes and explain all-things-culinary with humor and ease.

In this episode of On Point, Tom Ashbrook talks to Bittman about his latest philosophy on how Americans should change their eating habits. Making a commitment to be a vegan -- at least until dinnertime -- could do wonders for both one's health and the planet.

Picture by planetgordon, "Mark Bittman's Tomato Paella"