Peace of Mind Organizing

My new favorite app: NPR One

14 September 2016

I’m a big fan of National Public Radio. I’ve been listening to it for decades. But in recent years, that fell by the wayside. Instead, I’ve been listening to music on my phone or podcasts that automatically land on my phone. I used to listen to NPR on my car radio (I don’t think I even have a radio in my home any longer), but I’d switch it off if I didn’t like the story.

I do subscribe to a couple of podcasts of favorite NPR shows, including Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Ask Me Another.. On those podcasts, I’d hear ads for the NPR One app, which, the ads told me, provides “Hand-picked stories based on what you like.” After months of hearing ads, I finally dowloaded the app.

I am so glad I did! Oh my goodness, NPR One is like the having best of NPR without having to tolerate anything that doesn’t interest me.

I’m probably only skimming the surface, but here’s how I use it. When I open it, I hear the top-of-the-hour news, including news from my local station, KWMU. Then news and feature stories or podcasts start playing. If I’m interested in the story, I touch the word “Interested.” If I don’t want to hear the story, I touch the skip icon. Soon, the app started learning my interests and I now have to skip less often. The more I use it, the better it gets.

The wonderful thing is that I’m keeping up with (some) news and I’m hearing new-to-me podcasts. I’ve discovered the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which I love. I canceled my subscription to Entertainment Weekly after reading it for decades, so it’s helping me stay on top of pop culture.

If you like NPR and use a smartphone, I encourage you to give NPR One a try. It gives you all the benefits of listening to the radio and much, much more.

Tagged with: apps, iphone, npr

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