Why I Love NPR, or Why No Morning Should Begin Without Renee and Steve

Today sees the addition of a regular feature on RNS - The Best Thing I Heard on NPR Today. I listen to NPR all the time. I wake up with Steven Inskeep and Renee Montague in the morning on my commute on Morning Edition. I like the nifty facts that Steve shares with me at the breaks and the fact that I know by the time Marketplace Morning starts, I better be at the gate at Fort Belvoir - or else I will be late. I love All Things Considered - except when they are waging their war on Fort Carson and the Army. But even then it gives me something about which to feel self-righteous. I always feel like I learned something new - today I learned that the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Kentucky is in a dry county. And that wasn't even the best thing I heard on NPR. It was close - because not only did Morning Edition do a story on the Master Distiller at Jack Daniels retiring, but so did Marketplace - showing what makes NPR happy, apparently. Speaking of Marketplace, this has long been my favorite NPR show. (Which is actually not even NPR, but an American Public Radio production. The distinction is explained here.) I long ago fell in love with Market Place with David Brancchacio. David left us a while ago, bringing in another David. I lost track for a while, but now we have Kai Ryssdal. (Who is totally a Naval Aviator!) At first I disliked Kai, but he's grown on me - in no small part because of his on air demonstration of the video game Rock Star. The other thing I really really really love about Marketplace is that no matter which David, or Ky - they always check the numbers. And it is always one of three songs - "We're in the Money" if the numbers are up, "Stormy Weather" if they are down and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing" if the markets are split or up only a fraction of a point. If they ever change the songs, I may have to stop listening. But until that day, I'll keep listening for awesome stories on NPR and listening to the numbers and wondering why NPR hates the Mountain Post so much.