PBS & NPR

I have been long familiar with Public Television, nearly since its inception, and even remember first finding out local channel as a kid, by messing around on my parent’s television, scanning the UHF knob (sometimes to the disgruntlement of my Dad, who liked the UHF band to be left alone so the one other channel we had in that band (CBS) would be clear and easier to watch).    Early, on-air broadcasts of our first regional Public Television channel occurred in the late 1960s.   I remember well a few of the VERY early programs our station broadcast….one of course was VERY EARLY Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and Washington Week.  But I also recall very fondly a program that suddenly appeared in the early 1970s that I was rather transfixed by called “Lillias, Yoga and You” that would typically air relatively shortly after getting home from school. I remember having somewhat of a crush on Lillias as a kid.   I also VERY FONDLY remember when our PBS channel aired the complete series of “The Prisoner” which was a sort of “cult-classic” science-fiction show which completely captivated my young mind.  But, perhaps the MOST significant program, that I think SHAPED me more than any other was one that first started to air in the early-to-mid 1970s….. which was NOVA.  NOVA was a monumentally important window for me into ACTUAL SCIENCE.  Every episode captivated me from start-to-finish, and I believe it was instrumental in terms of spawning my interest in science, as there were really no science-focused folks in my family, and truth-be-told, the science teachers I was exposed to were basically “plug-and-chug” folks who would generally throw mimeographed worksheets at us to just fill in answers from a textbook during class….nothing overly inspirational.  But, watching NOVA helped me to see and begin to understand the creativity, the “detective-like” dogged determination behind the practice of science and the discovery of new knowledge.   

Do any of you remember “Lillas, Yoga & You” or “The Prisoner” or early “Nova”?  

I have now been also a long-time supporter and fan of National Public Radio.  Even though PBS and Public Television was what I found first, I have now listened to National Public Radio for close to 50 years, after having stumbled across it for the first time in my first vehicle that had an FM radio.  Rolling the dial on the car’s radio, I stumbled across NPR way low on the dial after working through all the Top 40 music channels and the unpleasant (to me) twangy country channels.  I enjoyed the Top 40 channels and also our region’s “Soul Train”-esque channel a lot….. but it was NPR that captured most of my attention and the first button on the radio was permanently set to that NPR channel.   

NPR became my gateway to a wider social and political world in those early years.  Eventually, when I started Graduate School, the University I was at had not just ONE NPR radio station….but TWO stations….one for what was familiar to me already….news, social and political commentary…..but the SECOND ONE played for virtually all of its 24-hour day….a mix of 12 hours of classical music and 12 hours of jazz music!  

I had always LIKED classical music, after first encountering it in band music in elementary school, and would occasionally check out classical music LP records from our public library when my parents would take me to get books there once ~ every other week.  I also checked out of the library other records as well, including music from India (my first foray into hearing the sitar, which I love), Gregorian Chants, and Jazz.  

But, it really wasn’t until I encountered that classical/jazz channel in Graduate School, that I fully IMMERSED myself in those two genres.  That radio channel helped me to learn SO MUCH about both classical music and jazz, that I am forever grateful.  

Now-a-days….I still greatly enjoy PBS, but I would easily say that currently National Public Radio remains at the top of my media consumption.  This is in part due to the INTERNET, and the options I now have to listen far more widely to MANY DIFFERENT NPR channels across the country…. via Internet streams.  I listen to a variety of of steams across the land, from Alaska, into Montana, through the Midwest with tons of channels in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and other areas in and around the Great Lakes.  I also have a few New York and Maine stations in my queue.  

PBS and NPR have been and continue to be wonderful "teachers" and resources for me throughout my life.  

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