Question: suggest a podcast or talk radio show

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ANSWERED on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 2:01 pm UTC by eiffel

Question: suggest a podcast or talk radio show

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Asked by gnossie on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 1:01 pm UTC:

My wife does not speak English well, and she wants to listen to something
on the computer or internet while she sits there and paints, which she does
for several hours every day.

So I'm looking for either an internet radio station or podcast that would
suit the bill.  I know of several, but things are slightly off with the
ones I know of.

Here are the requirements:

1.  We are conservative and traditional, so the show should be something
like Dr. Laura Schlessinger or Rush Limbaugh.  The problem with the latter
is that he goes on and on about U.S. political affairs that my wife
understands nothing about.  On the other hand, it can't be outright Gospel
radio.

2.  This has to be available on the internet, preferably for free, although
I am also willing to consider paying a fee if the program's good enough.

3.  Preferably the person should have a clear voice and not be a "shock
jock."  There should be no cussing or foul bits.

Something like the equivalent of Home Country Buffet as a radio show?  Or
ESL conversations?

Too bad Paul Harvey's dead:  that would have fit the bill nicely, except
that this is something I need to go on and on for hours, not just a couple
of minutes.

Uclue Researcher Answer by Researcher Roger Browne (eiffel) on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 2:01 pm UTC:

Hi gnossie,

For your purposes, I think it would be hard to do better than the
programming from Voice of America.

The voices are normally very clear, and the speech is not too rapid. The
programming is generally conservative and traditional. There are no shock
jocks, and no gospel. It's "safe", but certainly not closed-minded.

All of the content is free of charge. It is available in a number of
different formats: live streaming, podcasts or straight downloads.
Unfortunately not all programs are available in all formats (I have no idea
why), but the available formats are clearly listed on the VoA program
guide.

There is a lot of news and commentary, but there are also music programs
and lots of cultural programs. Some of the programming is targeted towards
listeners from developing nations, especially in Africa, but don't be put
off by that: it's clearly labelled in the program guide and you can easily
scroll past it.

Voice of America also offers many streams and podcasts for people who are
learning English. These are regular programs presented in "Special
English": a restricted set of English which prefers simpler words and easy
sentence structure. The Special English programming is not a "learn
English" course though, because the content is programming about regular
topics: American Mosaic, Explorations, Health Report, American Stories,
World News, etc.

There are also regular features such as "Words and their Stories" which
digs into the interesting history of words used in American English. This
has been going for decades - I can remember listening to it on VoA by
shortwave radio from Australia in the 1970s.

There's quite a variety of content, and it may take your wife a while to
explore it all and find the programs that she enjoys, but there's a lot to
choose from.

If the VoA programming does not meet your needs, please let me know by
posting a request for clarification.


Voice of America News Page
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/

Voice of America Program Guide (podcasts, MP3, Windows Media)
http://www1.voanews.com/english/programs/

VoA Special English program guide (podcasts are on the right)
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/index.cfm

What is Special English?
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/about_special_english.cfm


Regards,
eiffel

Request for clarification by gnossie on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 3:07 pm UTC:

Hmmm.  This looks promising, but all that stuff is like 4 and 5 minutes
pieces.  I'm looking for an unending streaming radio...

Request for clarification by gnossie on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 3:14 pm UTC:

I'm currently playing with this page:

http://www1.voanews.com/english/webcast/html/

Request for clarification by gnossie on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 3:17 pm UTC:

Wow!  Paid for by the U.S. government?!?

Request for clarification by gnossie on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 3:21 pm UTC:

The thing that looks promising is what is apparently a 24-hour news stream,
which they call "News Now."

Unfortunately, I've been listening to it for a while now.  It's all music. 
WTF?

Request for clarification by gnossie on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 4:11 pm UTC:

Oooooh.  Just found this:

http://www.npr.org/worldwide/

Uclue Researcher Answer clarification by Researcher Roger Browne (eiffel) on Fri 4 Dec 2009 - 4:15 pm UTC:

Hi gnossie,

Are you sure you're not on "Music Mix" rather than "News Now"? (They're
both 24-hour streams).

Although some of the individual news pieces on the home page are 4 and 5
minute pieces, the items on the 'Program Guide' page above seem to be
mostly 30 to 60 minutes (plus some shorter and longer pieces).

The Special English podcasts vary, but if the content suits you, you could
"stack them up" in your media player.

Regards,
eiffel

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