You made two key points. One is that the NPR voices sound like they are next to me in the car. There is good, thoughtful discussion and presentation. And as

You made two key points. One is that the NPR voices sound like they are next to me in the car. There is good, thoughtful discussion and presentation. And as an NPR supporter I really appreciate that. They know they have my (some) of my attention in the car, they are not trying to wrest my focus from the Honda about to cut me off. The low key nature works. I listen to NPR to get the slightly stale event that someone has taken the time to gather more than one fact and is trying to make a 1 min segment out of it. I can't recall a time where an NPR story got walked back (looking at you FOX) for shoddy reporting. Posts above have whined about how much NPR talent make. You should find out about your local morning zoo team and the Ken and Barbie team on your Action news. Those guys don't even get out of bed for 300K a year. Plus the people listed above also write and edit their material, vs Ken & Barbie. At a variety of levels, NPR and their shows are worth every penny. In a few weeks listen to them talk about the RNC / DNC conventions vs the others.