In His Own Words: Remembering Daniel Schorr

You may not recognize Daniel Schorr.

But if you tuned into NPR at all in the past few decades, you were likely treated to one of the keenest voices in journalism today providing a unique perspective on the news.

His decades of experience and depth of knowledge were a breath of fresh in air in this era of 24-hour quick-judgement news.

Schorr passed away today at the age of 93.

He will be missed on the radio, but we are fortunate that his voice will live on:

Pick Up Where You Left Off

Who would have thought a little key fob could be the future of radio interactivity.

It's the brainchild of an avid NPR junkie faced with that dilemma all of us public radio lovers run into from time to time: What do you do when you get somewhere, but you're halfway into a story you want to finish hearing.

Up until now, that meant staying in the car a bit longer.

Enter the Radio Bookmark. It looks like the bastard child of a car key remote and a USB jump drive. But what it does may bring radio into the interactive age.

Now when you get home and have to shut off All Things Considered mid-sentence, you can press a button, plug the fob into your computer later, and keep hearing the story on your computer.

The best part of it is that it's being offered exclusively through public radio stations themselves, in lieu of other cheesy thank you gifts. Especially in tough times like these, I can see some real value in a station offering something genuinly useful as a membership incentive.

As much as I love my growing ugly Colorado Public Radio mug collection, I'm glad to see they're actually on board with this new gizmo.

This may be a reason to renew my membership this year, despite the unfortunate death of The Bryant Park Project...

Bryant Park Bye-Bye

You may remember me raving about The Bryant Park Project when it debuted on NPR last year.

Unfortunately, you only have a few weeks left to catch it.

Another victim of our tightening economy it looks like the last show will be July 25. It was a bold attempt by NPR to tap a new audience.

Here's hoping they can apply what they've learned in the future as public radio inevitably keeps toeing into the deep end of the on-demand media era.

I look forward to seeing what Alison Stewart does next.

What Happens if You are Born in the Wrong Body?

I have long come to rely on NPR News for a more in-depth news experience that you really can't find many places anymore.

But chopping out almost an hour of All Things Considered for a thoughtful portrait of children facing gender identity issues?

That was unexpected drive-time surprise this week. I sat in my car, unable to get out until the touching set of stories by Alix Spiegel finished.

Over two days, she profiled various families across the country with children who from an early age demand to be identified as the opposite sex from which they were born. This conundrum forces many difficult choices onto the parents trying to do the best for their children.

Unafraid to shy away from the gray areas of what could be a simplistically sensational topic, NPR took the time to patiently paint the anguish of the decisions each family is making, and the varied voices guiding them on this relatively uncharted path.

I found myself agreeing with some decisions, disagreeing with others. But never did I feel like anyone was being demonized or belittled on one side or the other.

It is nice when a broad panorama of a complicated issue is laid out to you, and you are given the opportunity to react, instead of being told what conclusion you need to find. For all the families profiled, this was a very personal situation being transmitted nationwide. They deserve credit for finding the strength to come forward and tell their stories.

You can, and should, listen to this groundbreaking series online:

Part One: Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Preferences

Part Two: Parents Consider Treatment to Delay Son's Puberty

News Moves the Pied Piper Down the FM Dial

While I was off cavorting on far-flung beaches drinking too many cuba libres, Colorado Public Radio made a huge announcement that will finally bring NPR News back from exile in the AM radio wastelands.

In doing so, they finally acknowledged something anyone who has been to a symphony or opera here in town recently would have told you:

Classical music fans are an aging, if affluent, breed.

Looking to the future, CPR has finally decided to put news front and center, while finding a way to placate listeners with an ear for opera and strings.

This spring KCFR finally heads back home to 90.1 FM, taking its rightful place as CPR's flagship station. Classical music will now move to a new slightly less powerful station at 88.1 FM. That crackly AM station will now be someone else's playground.

For a while there were some ominous rumblings that they would consolidate their signals on a single FM station. Listening to all the feeds would have required an HD Radio, which no one is really bothering to buy yet.

This new solution elegantly serves listeners, while acknowledging that NPR's unique news programming is better suited for finding new subscribers in the iPod era.

CPR just ensured at least one membership renewal this year.

Modular modern housing comes to Denver

Mention modular housing, and it is almost impossible not to conjure up images of dusty trailer home parks in your head. That, or those ugly wide-load cheapos that you sometimes have to wind around on the interstate.

If so, it is time to change your perceptions a bit. Upscale modern design is attempting to reinvent the prefabricated home.

All you have to do is pick up a copy of Dwell magazine or find urban design blogs, and you will find a new renaissance of design pushing modern, greener prefabricated homes.

Denver is now joining the trend

This morning on the radio, Colorado Matters profiled a new townhouse project in Northwest Denver that will be prefabricated before getting placed on a foundation. Known for her Glidehouse concept home, Oakland, CA architect Michelle Kauffman is working with a local developer to build the Marycrest Townhomes near Regis University.

I have seen many of these concepts on paper and in photos. Design-wise, they are like any other home. There are better and worse designs. The concept itself, however, has a ton of potential, especially as a solution to quality and environmental concerns involved in construction today.

I look forward to seeing a modern modular home in real life. I have honestly been underwhelmed by the many of the floorplans I have seen on paper up until now. Having built homes though, I am fully aware that what you see in a blueprint is often very different than the feeling you actually get walking into a fully realized house.

Do we really stand at the forefront of a revolution in home design that will change the way we live?

The proof as always will be in the final product.

I look forward to seeing what they come up with here.

To hear the Colorado Matters interview online click HERE. KCFR will also be replaying it on-air tonight at 7:00 PM.

The Bryant Park Project

In case you haven't noticed on the right hand side of this blog, I'm a pretty devoted National Public Radio junkie. It's an addiction.

I even crumpled this year during one of those never-ending pledge drives and finally got my very own Colorado Public Radio mug. In case you ever thought it might be a neat addition to your morning cup of joe, it's one heck of an ugly mug.

It turns out NPR spent some of my mug money this summer, developing a new newscast that throws out tradition. The surprising part? The Bryant Park Project is a great show!

You can listen to it HERE where they are tweaking the concept right now.

This definitely ain't your daddy's NPR.

It's a hipper, more conversational concept clearly aimed at a younger, more net-savvy crowd. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's clearly not meant to replace the harder news stuff NPR already carries. I see it more as a lighter way to draw listeners once Morning Edition winds up. It's a bold, exciting direction for NPR.

Now, for the reality check: Will this new pair of socks fit Colorado Public Radio? Call me skeptical. This is the crowd that's strangely trying to coax people to listen to the news feed on digital radios no one owns. These are the same people who assumed that a local news station didn't really need local news updates.

At least I know some of my ugly mug money has gone to help develop The Bryant Park Project. Let's hope Colorado Public Radio finds room for something that thinks outside of their box. It's supposed to roll out to stations nationwide this fall.

UPDATE (9/21): It turns out Joanne Ostrow at The Denver Post had a blurb about this in her TV/Radio column earlier this week. My gut instinct about CPR not carrying it is now confirmed:

"For now, Colorado listeners are out of the loop. KCFR (90.1 FM) will not pick up the new NPR morning show. "We're concentrating on expanding our local news," said spokesman Sean Nethery. "

KUNC up in Fort Collins, but available here in Denver, won't be carrying it either. That's less of a suprise as they're still a hybrid NPR station playing music in between news. So here on the Front Range it'll be online or satellite only, at least for a while.