‘NPR Voice’ Has Taken Over the Airwaves
25th October 2015
During a recent long car ride whose soundtrack was a medley of NPR podcasts, I noticed a verbal mannerism during scripted segments that appeared on just about every show. I’ve heard the same tic in countless speeches, TED talks and Moth StorySLAMS — anywhere that features semi-informal first-person narration.
If I could attempt to transcribe it, it sounds kind of like, y’know … this.
I have always been a fan of radio voices. News broadcasters in the 30s and 40s had a very distinctive style of speaking that is immediately identifiable. So, apparently, do the people on NPR.
The best radio voice now living is James Lileks. You can catch him on the Ricochet podcast.