Live From Here! in anticlimatic

It has very recently come to my attention that the NPR program “Live From Here!” was canceled way back Early Pandemic When, spring of 2020, with little ceremony- not so much as any kind of finale. I was of course preoccupied at the time, but it means something to me that the show was canceled. I also learned that Ms Sue Scott, Mr Patt Donahue, and Mr Tim Russel, also retired from the program- between 2017 and 2020, respectively- thus transitioning completely from it’s legendary precursor, “A Prairie Home Companion,” to it’s more music focused contemporary- Live From Here.

Prairie Home was of course commanded by Garrison Keillor, and although all of the supporting cast members were excellent in and of themselves, they never jived well with the new host after Garrison retired. There was a magic in that show, and it was incredibly special to me throughout my 20s and even 30s. My grandpa got me hooked on NPR when I was a teenager. Garrison Keillor really made him laugh, which of course intrigued me. His sense of humor was fascinating for me to parse, role model to me as he was. He also really enjoyed Thistle and Shamrock, and of course Car Talk with Click and Clack. I remember laying on the carpet of his living room listening to those two guys try to figure out how to get a windshield wiper blade to stop wherever it was when it was turned off- so this trucker could reach out and knock the ice off of it without having to stop. Fascinating stuff for a teenager.

In my poor, service sector working class 20s, I’d spend every sunday afternoon driving around the countryside, tuned in to 103.9 from noon to two, catching the news from lake wobegon and the antics of guy noir, private eye. Most of the time I’d get high. If it was summer, the windows would be down, the grass would be golden. If autumn, the corn would be up.

It was one of the last times I felt…taken care of, by some kind of zeitgeist. Like something in the world knew what was happening- what was right, and what had value. Some carried wisdom from different times, yet times to come once again. I felt awe, and respect for something specifically human. I haven’t felt that in some time. My precious, transcendent NPR! What an awful joke you have become.