I know I wasn’t the only one who got a little teary when Bob said his goodbyes.
On literally thousands of mornings I’ve stood there trying to cut through the fog, pondering my coffee, my day, my life, and listening to Bob and to whomever he was interviewing. And I have almost invariably enjoyed listening. There’s something about his voice, his style, his technique, and the workings of his intelligence that make you genuinely like the guy. Or at least, you’re sure you would if you knew him personally. It seems inconceivable that the man is an asshole in real life.
I should note that I am not unconditionally in love with NPR. They often provoke my more-radical-than-thou leftist wrath with their pussy-liberal establishment optic and spin. But still I’m a habitual listener.
Let us digress. Because I live where I do, a real lefty radio alternative is available: WBAI. Problem is, their production quality and indeed their content is often just too shitty, and I lose patience. I recall one morning turning them on and hearing some guy chanting and playing bongoes. When he was done, the host of the show was like, thank you man that was really good. Guess what: no it wasn’t. It sucked. Then came a woman reading dreadful poetry in a 1960s jive voice that was supposed to make us think she was cool. That’s when I said fuck this I’m outa here, I’d rather listen to white males discuss the stock market.
Back to the matter at hand: you did a helluva job, Bob Edwards. We’ll miss you buddy.