Public radio has traditionally been one of the few outposts on the AM/FM dial for independent and innovative programming. The advent of streaming radio and podcasts has allowed a wider audience to [...]

‘Rockjazz’ pianist 36-year-old Eric Lewis a.k.a Elew played at TED Long Beach, California, in February this year to an audience that was impressed enough to give him a standing ovation. Elew’s style is difficult to describe. He studied piano as a child and later at the Manhattan School of Music. He then played for the Lincoln Center Jazz Troupe and toured with jazz greats Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson before breaking off to go it on his own. His individual style – he often stands when he plays, reaches into the piano to pull its strings and contorts his face [...]

Keith Hopper has created an interesting web service called NPR Backstory, that browses Google Hot Trends for popular topics, uses NPR’s API to search it’s archives for related stories, then posts it’s finds automatically to a Twitter account. Though it does not work perfectly yet, it looks like a great tool to re-purpose old news, and flesh out the history of the buzzing news of the day.
[NPR Backstory via Christian Science Monitor]

The now iconic image of Barack Obama created by artist Shepard Fairey and based on a photograph taken by AP photographer Mannie Garcia sits at the center of a lawsuit over what constitutes “fair use.” Both men will weigh in on the topic during today’s broadcast of Fresh Air. Although Fairey and Garcia will be appearing in separate segments, we’ll be interested to hear their thoughts on the fine line that exists between “infringement and inspiration.” We feel this discussion is particularly relevant to the online space given the free flowing way that information is appropriated and exchanged.  
[via mediabistro]
[image [...]

National Public Radio is offering their audience an extra level of functionality by providing a tool that allows user to create personalized podcast feeds that can be uploaded to any mobile device.  This new feature enables listeners to enter their various interests, ranging from general topics like music and politics to more specific subjects like The Beatles and Barack Obama, into search fields that then find and aggregate the clips in one location.  Although relatively easy to use, those seeking the most tailored content will have to spend a little time experimenting with the technology to discover the best mix.
Besides [...]