An above average, pretty good run
I first tuned in to NCPR as a young married twenty-something in the late 1970s. It was just called WSLU back then and had only the one transmitter in Canton, NY. I began listening to a new invention, a radio newsmagazine called All Things Considered while I stir-fried tofu and veggies for the communal dinner. And then Saturdays at 6 pm it was feet up, warming by the woodstove, listening to this weird guy from Minnesota, Garrison Keillor.
Garrison Keillor in the 1970s. Photo: Prairie Home Productions/American Public Media
So much has changed over the decades since; NCPR has grown to dozens of transmitters across the region, and hundreds of programs and hosts have come and gone. I’ve voluntarily lost the pony tail and involuntarily changed hair color altogether. But one thing has stayed pretty much the same–on Saturday, Garrison Keillor would be talking about his mythical hometown, cracking corny jokes, and unashamedly warbling duets with much stronger voices than his.
A Prairie Home Companion will continue on, but the last new episode with Keillor as host airs tonight at 6 pm. Here’s the rundown:
This week: we’re at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California for our final broadcast of the season. It’s a duet singing show, with Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, Heather Masse, and Christine DiGiallonardo all along to join the host on time-honored American ballads, British Invasion romps, country-western weepers, and Broadway classics, guaranteed to send him off to radio retirement in style. Plus: our Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, with L.A. tales and sound effects straight from rush hour on the 101; pianist and music director Richard Dworsky guides the band (Bernie Dresel on drums, bassist Larry Kohut, Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle, and guitarist Chris Siebold) through surf melodies and sun-drenched rock’n’roll instrumentals; and one last update on the News from Lake Wobegon, the little town that time forgot, and the decades cannot improve.
Sigh.
We have some special programs coming up on Monday, the Fourth of July.
The Capitol Steps will step up to a year in politics so weird it seems to satirize itself. At 3 pm, it’s Politics Takes a Holiday, their annual summer sendup of American politics and culture in skit and song.
At 4 pm it’s Hamilton: A Story of US, a one-hour special featuring the voices of students, the cast of the musical Hamilton, biographer Ron Chernow, and Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, who says that Hamilton is “a story about America then, told by America now.” NPR’s Audie Cornish hosts.
And in case you missed it last week, NCPR rolled out program schedule changes starting yesterday. You can find the details here.
Have a great holiday weekend: grill a little, grin a little, lean back and ooo at some fireworks.
Tags: listeningpost
Oh, the memories GK invokes. First began listening to PHC many years ago when my children were little.
Sat. night ritual: baths for all 4 kids, gather in the living room and listen to PHC while playing games, reading or doing some sort of art/craft project. Many years later, my eldest son and his wife were hired by PHC as naturalists for the PHC cruises. They have been an integral of the PHC cruises, two which I have gone on, having the pleasure to visit with GK. An era is ending…as most things must. I will miss PHC and Garrison. What a run!
The style of the program has been enjoyable in the years I have been listening. It had variety, humor, music, and the corniness that made HEE HAW worthwhile. A bit like old time radio that I listened to as a kid in re-broadcasts in the late 60’s and 70’s. PHC had a little edginess during which I distracted my kids when they were younger. Its hymn singing and poking a little fun at church types will probably be missed in the future as it becomes less of a common denominator and more politically incorrect to mention the subject. What will be nostalgic 10 years from now? This generation doesn’t watch much TV, spends inordinate amounts of time on the internet- often gaming, does not socialize in common activities, has a limited ability to communicate by telephone. PHC thrived on a common thread of experience, does the next generation have things in common? Does the Chatterbox Café, Lives of the Cowboys, Guy Noire and News from Lake Woebegon make sense to high school and college age kids today and in the next decade? The program successfully avoided the likes of Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and more leaning more to classical, country, cajun and folk music. Maybe I am answering my own questions. The variety of not too much of any one thing and not just a couple of things, a dose of humor to allow for relief and human failure with an orchestrated plan to offer a performance worthy of the audience’s time to attend, not be insulted or overly offended and have a few chuckles. It’s longevity is a testimony of its investment. A big challenge for the next program leaders.