Current's The Pub

“National Public Radio,” as Bill Siemering envisioned it in the beginning, would “not regard its audience as a ‘market’ or in terms of its disposable income, but as curious, complex individuals,” he wrote in NPR’s 1970 mission statement. Siemering was NPR’s first program director, though he didn’t stay long. This week on The Pub, we’ll consider how public radio today does or does not resemble Siemering’s optimistic, aspirational vision. Also: • A cavalcade of public radio stars attempt to read the most unwieldy sentence ever conceived by humanity — 92 words with 11 distinct clauses. John Hockenberry, Zoe Chace, Jesse Thorn, Bill Littlefield, Celeste Headlee, Jacki Lyden and Jeremy Hobson all try to wrestle this beast to the ground, with varying degrees of success. • Current’s Dru Sefton and Tyler Falk explain why it’s time to starting caring about the FCC’s upcoming TV spectrum auction, and why even radio peopl