Notice how you’ve framed your question. One doesn’t need too many clues to judge whether someone is an egotistical asshole, and any additional characteristics are not going to erase that impression. If Keillor is such an asshole, then now matter how charming PHC is he’s still an asshole.
Here’s some history. I was neutral about Keillor until I read his Salon column. Didn’t know about him, didn’t care (I have heard slivers of PHC on NPR, but they didn’t register). But I was positively disposed. That is, I went with his reputation and assumed he was probably OK.
When I read the column on Salon, I was shocked. The writing was inscrutable, inward-turning, totally inappropriate for an advice column. Why did Keillor call himself “Mr. Blue”? Nothing about it made sense. My impression of him was now negative, but not egregiously so.
When I first heard “Writer’s Almanac,” I did not know it was him. But I did find the program extremely annoying. When at last I found out who it was, all the pieces came together, and I thought,
Actually, I was asserting that you have shitty taste, not that I have good taste. There’s a difference!
There’s also a difference between being aggressive and snarky in a message board thread and putting out a product for public consumption that shows one to be a self-centered shithead.
Those Kentucky links were interesting, thanks. I’m curious as to how much the outcry was about “free speech” and generic support for programming freedom on NPR, and how much was from a genuine desire for the program to be on.
I’m surely the minority here, but I happen to adore Garrison Keillor. I don’t listen to PHC faithfully every weekend (nor do I even get a chance to hear every show in its entirety), but when I hear his voice I am comforted like a child. I think the PHC skits are largely entertaining (Guy Noir is a fave), and the musical guests are often genius- this last weekend were the Waylon Jennies (I mean c’mon, they were great and what a kick-ass name!).
I’ve laughed my ass off (usually at some Bush slam or current events tie-in), I’ve been moved to tears (News from Lake W can be that way), and I’ve never thought the show wasn’t good in some way. I haven’t followed his whole career, but I’ve always liked his show.
My best friend (who turned me on to PHC) would tell you all to fuck off, but I’m much nicer than that!
Speak for yourself. It takes a lot to convince me that I am an authority on someone else’s mind. Sometimes people seem to be egotistical and arrogant when they are not.
And I wouldn’t like being so close-minded that new information wouldn’t enlighten me. Is that a characteristic that you choose for yourself?
I must be the anti-Aeschines. I love the NPR/PRI weekend programming and I have since I was in high school. The only shows I don’t like are most of the music shows (bluegrass, jazz, blues, classical, Afropop), but I do like “The Thistle and Shamrock” (Celtic) and, sometimes, “Songs for Aging Children” (classic rock and folk). I am also not a huge fan of the “classic radio” programming (“The Big Broadcast”), which I find boring and unfunny, or the Hispanic programming (“Latino USA”). I despise “The Parents’ Journal” with a passion.
Otherwise, I like them all, and my No. 1 favourite is “Whaddya Know? with Michael Feldman.” I also love “Soundprint,” “Car Talk,” “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me,” “This American Life,” “Studio 360,” “On the Media,” “Justice Talking,” and “Speaking of Faith.”
I’ll listen to Garrison Keiller if I have nothing else to do. I find him reasonably intelligent and mildly entertaining. Usually, I laugh out loud at least once during the show. I can’t say I like the music portions of the program, but the monologues and the skits are all fine by me. Although it’s not my favourite program, it’s leagues better than anything on commercial radio. And it’s better than jazz or bluegrass music. (Yuk)
It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s the kind of low-key intelligent, reasonable, witty conversation that’s rare in today’s America.
