Imagine if the US had TWELVE public radio stations covering everything from news to politics to culture, with a full range of music, from pop to classical, and didn't have to cram everything into NPR.

And imagine that all 12 would be available throughout the country, (no matter where you were, even out in the most rural areas!) and imagine that they didn't constantly have to interrupt the broadcast to beg for money.

Yeah, Radio France is pretty cool. http://www.radiofrance.fr/

It's good for practicing my French comprehension (which is rusty), but listening to the level of discourse (smart! unabashedly intellectual! no pandering to the base redneck mob!), the rich cultural offerings presented for the listener's appreciation and enjoyment (music, history, cuisine), and the real *international* news that we never hear about here in the US... I feel like i"m living in an impoverished second-tier country.

Instead we get multiple flavors of HBO, which cost close to $100 a month per household, and although some are good, in general it's a ripoff. We pay much, much more and get much less.

NPR is good, I mean, I'm completely grateful for it, but it would be really cool if *everyone* could get their programs on their radio stations for free, and could get it full-time, not just for a few hours a day because that's all the local alternative radio station could afford to buy.