Interesting story re the Expat airline. I've not seen anything about it on any of the national news stations nor in the papers. I've seen other stories by that reporter, Mike Drummond,on the internet and heard him on your station.

Sent by Betty Butler | 8:01 PM ET | 07-20-2007

I particularly liked two things: The novel twist on the explosion in NYC by talking to a photographer who's seen the underground infrastructure and interview with the Rev. Billy. Keep finding the stories different from those on Morning Edition and ATC, as these were.

Regarding the Ramble and the TSA allowing lighters on planes again - I wished you'd asked why they are going to allow these again but not the other, safer things still prohibited or limited in quantity. Of all the bans they could lift, allowing things that can EXPLODE like lighters - things filled with flammable liquid and capable of starting fires - while still limiting toiletries and banning bottles of water seems a bit skewed to me in terms of priorities.

Keep up the good work on the show.

Sent by Sioux | 8:06 PM ET | 07-20-2007

Hmm... Y'all are waiting awhile to give the headlines. I like a brief billboard followed by the newscast better. Will BPP include local headlines from member stations if it takes so long to do the national ones?

Iraq summary: I'm not digging the intro music. However, I like the sound bites from other newscasts and news events -- particularly that general who choked up about fatalities. Its nice that the segment is focusing on developments other than deaths and bombings, which deserve some attention. I also like the transition into a BPP interview about Iraq.

The ExPat Air story is fascinating! There are so many facets to it: refugees, foreign workers (Peruvians?!) in Iraq, Jordan's relations and plight with the war, ethics, etc.

Alison's hubby is on the show. I sense a conflict of interest. LOL! Hmm... Sports on a NPR show. While I'm not a sports fanatic, I think that's a niche to fill. (I think the tension of calling "Mr. Alison" is funny. However, is it worth the time devoted to it? Yeah, you usually dial 9. Don't hurt your hubby, Alison, for not picking up sooner. Interesting... Alison refers to herself with her full name when conserving with her husband, but he refers to her as "darling." Gambling...)

The Michael Vick story reminds me of cock fighting in Mexico. Dogs aren't the only animals that are cruelly forced to fight for entertainment purposes. How does cock fighting relate to dog fighting? Is canine combat also popular in Mexico and Latin America? This reminds me of the sad story from today's episode of Morning Edition about dog fighting in which one dog was in such bad shape that the vet had to put him/her down to protect the pouch from its violent nature.

Is the newscaster going to do the bottom of the hour newscast or the hosts? I currently don't have a preference either way.

I was amazed that Lou Dobbs on CNN and Brit Hume on Faux News (notice the intentional spelling) basically ignored the New York explosion, which happened during their live shows. Even Al Jazeera English cut to breaking coverage for it. Why did hungry-for-sexy-stories cable news channels ignore it? Well, I know after Lou Dobbs and Rick Kaplan had a pissing contest over a Bill Clinton speech during Moneyline on May 20, 1999 that Dobbs gained significant control over his own program, but why did Faux ignore it? However, would we talk about a similar event if it happened in Anchorage, Kona, Topeka, or Savannah?

People stand for four or five nights to see Wagner? Is his opera as enticing as the PS3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? If people travel the world to see how an opera is put on in Copenhagen vs. its Apia version, does the show change that much as time and miles go by? BTW, congrats to Ari for his promotion to correspondent!

Why do preachers try to equate wealth with righteousness? I would love to hear a series of stories of how religion (maybe a particular denomination for simplicity) treats the pursuit of money as a virtue and then as a vice. Exciting -- Reverend Billy is firebrand during interviews!

Last newscast: The San Fran earthquake happened at 4:40ish AM. Which time zone?

Y'all cited a urban legends site! Groovy.

It is great that y'all interview bloggers. The New York Times, Harry Potter, and WMDs... Oh my!

Thanks for trying new things in this installment. Hopefully, my comments are helpful.

Sent by Steve Petersen | 10:55 PM ET | 07-20-2007

NPR morning shows have always had sports. Even if Red Barber on "ME" was about old sports, there was and is Frank Deford's commentaries and Col. Bob had regular vists with John Feinstein and Tim Green. Seems to me that Scott Simon does a sports segment on "WESAT," as well. With that, if Alison wants to call up her husband (and she did on the test segment podcasts), it's OK by me.

Sent by Mark Jeffries | 1:49 PM ET | 07-21-2007

Holy Mary... I can't believe you played the Gates soundclip. He's a puppet.

Considering Gates' stance on homosexuality.... does he weep for gay/bi soldiers who loose their lives? Or are some soldiers mere statistics while others are the nation's sons and daughters?

Could Edelman really have made such a bold statement without Gates giving the okay?

And what's the deal with Gates learning about Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles from a newspaper article? Shouldn't he have known about that stuff for a while?

Gates is being coy about congressional oversite.

He drinks the Bush kool-aid.

The War is a lie. Impeach.

Cmon, you know you want to say it. There's a microphone right in front of you. You even have the opprtunity to practice dissent by typing "The War is a Lie. Impeach." in a Morning Meeting blog post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-hccbTCq0g

Sent by Brian | 10:05 PM ET | 07-21-2007

Great Show. Hope You Get Picked-up.

Sent by Robert | 10:07 PM ET | 07-21-2007

"It will be a more conversational approach to the day's news geared toward younger listeners in their 20s and 30s."

Alison, Luke and Matt,

Sorry to post twice about the same subject.

Two days ago I had to take a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale test. I dunno if you've ever had to take one. But one of the questions is (can't recall the exact wording):

What is the purpose of the media in our society?

Swear to Christ, I kid thee not. It's a question on the test.

You do a nice show. The banter works, the humour works... but (and maybe I'm wrongly optimistic) I think your audience would like an honest and open conversation about the state of things home here in the US and way over yonder in You-Know-Where.

Thanks. Peace.

-------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BArymog9wTU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4-155tCLKM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRbrJHUrIqk

Sent by Brian | 11:37 PM ET | 07-21-2007

Hi guys,
Loved the music transitions, although the one into "Week in Iraq" was very retro MTV News style. The last couple of stories with Rev. Billy and Harry Potter showed the strengths of this show-namely a more approachable NPR that isn't so austere. And I would give Ari Shapiro a pat on the back and an appointment with a masseuse for listening to that much opera!

Sent by Laura | 3:54 PM ET | 07-22-2007

I was pleased to see some concrete news, especially at the beginning, Still, I have a hard time believing our demographic will be drawn to NPR to hear details on Harry Potter. I just hope someday someone will target those of us who are young and just want some real news told in a cool way. Why oh why do people equate news with old people and "pop news and entertainment" with getting the "younger demo". Geez man, I live in the ghetto, but i still watch PBS with friends sometimes. We never get credit, and it seems everyone thinks they gotta dumb everything down for us.

The stories on Iraq, Plamegate, Expat Air, Opera, and NYC Infrastructure were interesting. I can see how a sports update is good for some people, and i can take it as long as sports update isn't too long, i would shorten it a bit tho if its to be a regular segment

I REALLY liked the comparison of liberal and conservative opinions from the "blogosphere" on Valerie Plame ordeal, it really contributed a lot, I love hearing opinions and commentary from those on both sides of the aisle.
I really disliked the Rev. Billy segment, and found it to be potentially offensive/divisive, especially to those who truly care about the news and balance of NPR and yet happen to be religious or spiritual. Im all for comedy, but i just found the multiple "Amens" and "Hallelujahs" to be over the top for me.

Seems that the background music is harder to hear during the newscasts. Others may disagree, but I misss the techno beats in the background, its adds some flavor, and allows me move my head to the music while being informed ;)

I dont know if its too much of a stretch, but i'd like to hear a bit more modern music as a quick break between talking segments, especially since everything else on the dial is almost 100% talk in the morning. I mean, similar to what you hear on Z100 or used to hear way back on KTU in New York, some hit music inbetween to attract the listeners. (Maybe that is out of the format you guys are looking for so im not sure of all the technicalities)

The stream is great, as it adjusts to my dialup connection, but I always miss the first minute of what is said, because Real Player is trying to adjust from 64kb to 20kb stream, i realize this wouldnt be a problem on regular radio, but maybe some music at the beginning would help that out so content isnt missed.

Oh, and i hope that some more international news will be covered, not just Iraq, but Europe, africa, S. America, Caribbean, anywhere, fill our minds with some interesting news that isnt repeated everywhere else, including every competing morning radio or tv ""news"" show, and maybe its my attention span, but i kinda get bored when so much time is spent on some of the topics, maybe a bit more could be introduced a bit more quickly, but thats just a minor thing.

The Ramble is an awesome idea, perhaps it could be moved up a bit earlier than the very end, like as an opener, or midway through (It says it was above but it was actually at the end before the Harry Potter part).

The music is great, (but dont be shy to experiment with some foreign pop, urban, rock, etc) ;)

All and all, big improvement over the first pilot, its so far much more concrete. Giv me something I can groove to, laugh about, and learn from, something informative enough to pry me away from C-Span in the morning, but cool enough to keep me smilin and relaxed. (watercooler stories will just make me sleep)

Personalities are perfect tho, good radio voices, withstyle i can relatev too., Sorry for the long message.. Keep up the good work ;)

Sent by Jose | 3:24 AM ET | 07-23-2007

It's a relief to hear something so conversational on NPR. Now how about that newscast? I don???t know if it will actually be y'all doing the newscast, or if you will have to pipe it in from DC, but why does the newscast portion (the one currently being done by Matt) have to sound so much like Carl Kasell's reading it? I'm glad you're not scoring with techno anymore. Why not try to make it different from normal newscasts by including more sound. Check out CBC's The World This Hour (listen at http://www.cbc.ca/radionews/index.html) They do a good job with active writing and lots of sound. (But it's a much different kind of newscast.) The back-and-forth headline update that Luke and Allison do in the middle is refreshing. Are you going to update across the time zones? I think the idea here is to not be Steve and Renee, so why not not-be-Carl while you're at it.

The grouping of stories (2 Iraq, 2 sports, some New York stories) was nice.

Spontaneity is rare on NPR, and it's nice to hear in your program Examples: the way both hosts can jump into an interview, or the calling of the husband. I hope spontaneity stays in some way.

The Iraq guests weren't the greatest talkers, the Reverend was fun but there are a lot of quirky nuts with agendas out there. Perhaps too New York as well. Did you try to get a response from the Times on the Harry Potter story? It might have been fun to have the NYT critic patched into the call with the disappointed blogger. (I guess I'm saying I want you to be more like Jerry Springer. Sorry.)

And speaking of Harry, I'm having a little trouble understanding why there has been such a backlash to reporting on Paris Hilton, but each time one of these books (or movies) comes out, they fall into doing way too many cliched stories that are really just commercials for the book. I understand it's a cultural phenomenon --- but so is Paris Hilton. Aren't the media making a value judgment by reporting on Paris, but not Potter? Isn't it the kind of judgment journalists shouldn't make -- it's acceptable to be interested in Potter but not in Paris. Yes, Potter's a big business story now, and it sold a lot of books. But a lot of people read about Paris on Perez too.

I look forward to the next show.

Sent by Owen | 5:14 PM ET | 07-23-2007

Please omit the aerobic background music! I expect someone to come on any minute saying "four more, three more, two more..." Also in general the whole BPP reminds me of the cutesy banter of folks mc'ing the Thanksgiving day parade. I listen to NPR via online streaming and am always disappointed when I find BPP is on.

Sent by Julie Parker | 8:30 AM ET | 02-04-2008