NPR, sheesh
“There has been a lot of complaints....”
NPR, sheesh
You can walk a line. You can thread a needle. You can walk the line if you’re Johnny Cash. But you cannot walk a needle. Ouch.
“Leftist broadcasters” (Project 2025)
It’s extraordinarily dishonest to assert that NPR and PBS are noneducational or virtually noneducational, unless of course you’ve already restricted “educational” to programming for the very young. So Sesame Street is educational, but All Things Considered, American Masters, Finding Your Roots, and Frontline are not.
When publications collide
From the April 30 installment of the NPR feature Trump’s Trials: “The jury saw text messages between [Keith] Davidson and leadership at American Media, Inc., which published the National Esquire.”
“Pickleball infrastructure?”
I show up in Zippy.
Griffy, Zippy, and NPR
“Th’ reassuring timbre of Mary Louise Kelly, th’ velvety tones of Steve Inskeep, th’ friendly chatter of Ari Shapiro, th’ lilting warmth of Audie Cornish.”
NPR, sheesh
“In Greek and Roman mythology, Venus is the goddess of love.”
MSNBC, sheesh
“. . . whomever is going to be Speaker.”
NPR, sheesh
“These cookies have taken on new meaning as an adult.”
NPR, sheesh
“As him and his aides think about this.”
NPR, sheesh
“Similar to [a defeated former American president], Bolsonaro,” followed by some verb.
Fat-checking
Sheesh.
NPR pronunciation
Of Iran.
A series of legal troubles?
’d like to say a sea of legal troubles, but that would hardly be acceptable to NPR, and besides, I shudder at the thought of a metaphor that would point to taking up arms. A big fat mess of legal troubles? A diaperload of legal troubles? Perhaps just a number of legal troubles.
Don’t call him MBS
NPR: Please, stop calling Mohammed bin Salman MBS. He is not a brand like BMW or IBM. He is not a hip-hop star like DMC or DMX.
“More clear”
Sometimes I want NPR to be more better.
Whither the gatekeepers?
Will Shortz, this Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle is messed up.
NPR, sheesh
“Commiserate” for “commensurate.”
Will Shortz again
Will Shortz, giving the answer to last week’s puzzle on NPR this morning: “Ma Rainey, as in the movie Ma Rainey’s Blues.” There was no correction from Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
NPR, sheesh
“Several protestors were attacked by onlookers.” Onlookers? If you’re attacking, you’re not looking on.
Domestic comedy
After hearing the Weekend Edition Sunday puzzle.
Thug life
“That reporter couldn’t have done too good a job on you, eh? I think you did a good job on her, actually.”
NPR, sheesh
“Melee” does not rhyme with “smelly.”
Morning Edition as madeleine
Robinson Meyer writes about the Morning Edition theme music, old and new: “Five months ago, I happened to find the Morning Edition theme on YouTube, and as the hi-hat glimmered and the jazz guitar began, I was surprised to find myself transported. Suddenly, I was sitting in the back of my dad’s Mazda sedan, being driven to elementary school, listening to the NPR sports commentator Frank Deford, the car smelling of seat leather and something acrid that I couldn’t place.”
“Others say”
NPR does its listeners no service by presenting “Others say it didn’t happen” as a legitimate point of view.
Passive tense? Gross!
Terry Gross interviewed Benjamin Dreyer on Fresh Air today. And she referred, consistently, to “the passive tense.” There is, of course, no such thing. Dreyer consistently said “voice.” But he was too tactful to make a correction.
NPR, sheesh
Nooses tighten. Webs ensnare. Plots thicken. Clichés sometimes trip up those who rely upon them.
Poetry on NPR
“Perhaps the butterflies are mute because / no one would believe their terrible stories.”
NPR, sheesh
Donald Trump wasn’t “making an argument” about climate change in his 60 Minutes interview. He was making an unfounded assertion.
NPR, sheesh
From a story about wildfires in the American southwest : “visitors tip well to hear old-timey Western tunes like ‘The Entertainer.’”