PBS and NPR have long been my go-to sources for news. Very much in the classic "who, what, when and where" vein. Editorial content is small, segregated and usually includes advocates for both sides. Blissfully boring and informative...
NPR News veered sharply left over the past ~10 years, even more so local affiliate programming like that put out by KQED. In the past year or two there's been a moderate course correction, but their reporting is still clearly stuck in a liberal cognitive bubble.[1] I think a large part of it was the generational turnover that occurred, and their eagerness to "speak the truth", emboldened by the belief that any random sociology study that happened to support their view firmly established their beliefs as scientific fact, unchecked once Republicans disengaged from earnest empirical debate. But I agree about PBS, they managed to stay the course.
[1] NPR generally has always had a liberal bias, but their professionalism was sufficient to keep them straight shooting. Even Justice Scalia used to listen to NPR News, at least as late as the aughts.
I do agree that NPR is less neutral than PBS but if you want to hear what harder left political commentary sounds like, listen to an episode of Chapo Trap House. NPR isn’t sharply left— they’re very on the very mainstream end of liberal centrist with an occasional smattering of “I was a socialist for a semester in college” liberal in their editorial content— they’re just not shy about it.
PBS on the other hand— while obviously coming from an institution that exists because of things liberals value— clearly puts a lot of effort into representing most mainstream views charitably. It’s almost like if Reuters had a daily news hour.
I spent much of this afternoon playing xNetHack[1] on Hardfought[2]. My first exposure was 30 years ago to a DOS port laboriously downloaded from a dial-up BBS. No web, no documentation, no wiki[3]. And I've loved every minute of it...
My introduction to jumping spiders was as a child on a long, boring drive in the back seat of a Buick. One emerged from somewhere down in the door and crawled onto the glass. When I moved closer it would back away. When I moved back it would follow me. When I tilted my head to get a better look it tilted in response. We kept this nonsense up for the rest of the trip...
When I was a kid my dad gave me his war surplus radio. He had been a communications officer in WWII. It was a huge metal box with a separate speaker. Inside it was full of tubes, wires and other stuff. I knew nothing about it so I turned it on, ran a wire outside for an antennae and started spinning dials and flipping switches. It kept me amused for years. Eventually I stumbled across actual broadcasts such as BBC and Radio Luxembourg. But the funniest was the English language Radio Moscow. It was filled with vignettes of happy working couples in their modern apartment living a fulfilling life in the Soviet Union. The stuff was risible to even a child in the 1950's...
