NPR Radio Personalities

I'd truely like to believe that the people behind the voices at NPR are honest to god radio personalities, and not some Clear Channel auto-DJs broadcasting out of Tampa. It's really what I'm thinking about every time they mention that the last broadcast was brought to you by the Chubb Group. So, this is what I imagine them to be like in real life (all apologies to any and all NPR employees):

Susan Stamberg: A sort of hippie journalist. Works for a lot of non-profits. Owns lots of tote bags.

Linda Wertheimer: Pearls, feathered hair, and a house full of antiques. She has a set routine every time she comes into the studio and supposedly fired an intern for breaking her regular coffee cup.

David Brancaccio: Dresses in dark suits, imagines himself to be a continuation of the great radio anouncers of the fifties. Maybe looks like Gregory Peck in certain ways. Talks in that voice all the time, not just a put-on. (i.e. Phil hartman in Talk Radio or that guy from Murphy Brown)

Corey Flintoff: Younger, more excitable version of the above. Yuppie-ish in certain ways (i.e. drinks a lot of white wine), doesn't tuck in his shirt when he plays with his kids on the weekends. Still pines for the days of hands-on journalism, risking his neck in Angola to get that story on the '72 uprising.

—September 1st, 2003

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