CBC Radio Nerdz VI...

I don't get Q, either.  It sounds like a satelite radio show to me.

I'm definitely for arts and culture and good pop culture shows. 

But in times of really tight budgets, and given the lack of detailed reporting in daily broadcast news, I think CBC radio should focus its priorities.  I don't like trading an hour of Ontario Today for an afternoon of patchwork programming including Your DNTO, for instance (that's the name of the show, I believe).

I'd like to hear a wider variety of arts and culture programs.  Lots of half hour shows.  

Karen Wells' documentaries are usually very good.  I heard most of Abortion Caravan doc this morning and I loved it.

Glad to hear that, GV.  I missed the show entirely yesterday.

Next on my own personal To Be Knocked Off the list is Fall On Your Knees.  A decent read but it felt so contrived to me and it's not a book I imagine I'll ever re-read (one of my personal watermarks for good lit is the urge to re-read it at some point). 

I suspect at this point that Jade Peony (no spoilers, please; I'm catching the re-broadcast tonight) will take the win.

In GenX's defense.  One of the panelists who said she didn't like the book, allowed that it did make her laugh out loud in places.  I agree with that.  And I think Coupland is a clever writer.  His style and subject matter simply does not engage me beyond mild annoyance. 

Micheal Turner is a contemporary of Coupland's, and has written much stronger and more diverse works.  I'd like to see Hard Core Logo championed (I think Steven Page brought it up at one point).

Taking a mild tangent....  Bill Richardson used to host Canada Reads.  Does he still work for the CBC?  I remember long afternoons working a tractor, listening to Sad Goat.  When it was cancelled and replaced with a still wavering and weird mix of shows, he used to fill in host.  Unlike Ghomeshi, Richardson clearly read widely and could prod the conversation along without resorting to snide Jian-isms. 

And it was good to hear James Cudmore break the Liberal's connection to Afghan detainees.  Notably, none of the former Libs involved have responded to interviews.

What's the link again?

The listen live function doesn't function for me.  Probably need to disable something.

Thanks, QaBong.

Back to As It Happens.  Anyone listening this week while Barbara Budd took the week off?  Instead of the usual male fill ins, they're trying out a woman.  I cannot catch or remember her name, but she's better than the men.  Still, a rough set of shoes to fill - Budd is simply a master.

I have not listened to Rewind.  I think it's a great idea.  And I agree that radio is tiimeless. 

I only watch CBC News Network when I'm at the gym.  What is the point of the afternoon?  Where are the stories?  Today they actually broadcast a story about Octomom's housing problems, the deadly danger of accupuncture, Sarah Palin's proposed reality show plus a little chitchat about her potential salary, which at 1 million\episode, had the Ceebers chuckling.

It's weird and pointless filler, heavy on death, headline stuff, with a good dose of US celebrity coverage updates.  Makes radio sound a lot better.

As It Happens has been doing a daily bit on an urban farming mega-project in Detriot.  AIH generally does a good job of hightlighting food and agricultural issues, as does the Current.  I often disagree violently with the story - usually an interviewee - but at least I'm getting the story to start with.  The Current introduced me to Micheal Pollan, for example.  AIH has always followed ag stories that I wouldn't have heard otherwise. 

DNTO is a disaster.  And Strombo's Radio2 show....  Can I see a show of hands for QaBong taking that slot? 

I agree, Kropotkin.  The Cons have maintained the CBC'd buget, whereas the Libs lobbed off big chunks. 

The Harper\Cons do clearly hate CBC radio, which still has some real journalists working on the ground and airwaves.  They simply don't have any support and the management is heinous.  There isn't a single reporter in Hamilton, a city of over 500 thousand people!  A 45 minute trip to Toronto yields a massive building full of CBC employees (and contractors) and yet there's no enough money kicking around to have a newsperson covering Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph? 

George check out this blog:
http://nowthedetails.blogspot.com/
The CBC already gets significant public funding. I have no doubt the Cons will not go out of their way to help the CBC. But the CBC still gets a fair chunk of money from the public. The Cons have maintained the levels they inherited, more or less.
Simply, the Cons are not going to reinstate any new funds for the CBC.
The Cons would never attempt to lean on the CRTC to help the CBC. I'm a little puzzeled to find people surprised by this, including the CBC, because I have been listening, GV.
I listened to AIH the day of the decision, and a Ceeb exec suggested withholding their tv signals in protest, essentially going off air.
Anyhow, the CBC has some issues to deal with as per its role. And that's probably why I'm a CBC Radio Nerd, not a CBC Nerd.

GV, CBC TV is an entire thread of its own.  I don't watch enough of it to come up with a solid commentary.  I know, like radio, the tv shows are good in places and poor in others.  I watch CBC News Network most and it's probably better left off air.

Don't let your perception of Dvorkin's political leanings colour your reading glasses, GV.  Dvorkin's strongest comments are directed towards the mangement decisions consciously taken by the CBC itself to mimic private networks.  So now the Ceeb is stuck: it gets direct public funding and competes for ad revenue in TV and on the net.  It doesn't *look* like a public broadcaster; it really is a publically funded private broadcaster.

CBC Radio is separate in my mind.  It's certainly more cost effective than TV production, and possibly more effective, period, in maintaining the CBC's mandate across a large country.