5 ms·

I know some people love the NPR sound and find it intimate and comforting, but I often have to turn it off because the mouth and saliva noises drive me crazy.

I know some people love the NPR sound and find it intimate and comforting, but I often have to turn it off because the mouth and saliva noises drive me crazy. Misophonia is not fun!

justaman 5y ago
I don't know who it is, but one person in particular seems to have a retainer and it is unbearable. Every time they talk about "tthiss" or "thsat".
- jhpankow 5y ago
  If it is a female my misophonia suggests it is Mary Louise Kelly. I've gotten used to it. There is also a male voice on one of the weekend shows that might be who you're describing. I wrote in to a cable TV show a decade ago to call out the nose hair whistling and mouth sounds. They never replied to me, but they rolled off the highs for the remainder of the shows.
  - cainxinth 5y ago
    There was one NPR broadcaster who used to read the news on weekend mornings for my local station (WHYY), I forget her name, and I haven't heard her in a while thankfully, but she literally whispered the news. It was like someone I don't know, whispering sweet, unsolicited nothings in my ear. Felt uncomfortably intimate in a way I hated. I was always like, "Lady, I don't know you like that, so cut it out."
    - jhpankow 5y ago
      Years ago when I moved for my first job out of school I decided to set my clock radio to the local NPR station (KERA Dallas) to wake up to the news. I had to switch to a hard rock station because I'd fall back asleep to their soft voices.
    - joezydeco 5y ago
      The amount of vocal fry on NPR has become as bad as Mary Louise Kelly's dry mouth clicking. And once you hear it, you can't unhear it.
      - SamBam 5y ago
        Rather, once you've randomly decided that that's a horrible thing. Men (and women) have spoken with vocal fry for the past several millennia, but I don't recall reading of anyone being annoyed by it until recently when everybody decided that millennial women speaking like that on the radio was anathema.
      - zimpenfish 5y ago
        Language Log investigated the "vocal fry problem" a few years back. https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17489 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17489 "And they want to talk about the crazy ways that young women are speaking. And the first thing they do is attribute it to young women, even though young men are doing it too. So it's a policing of young people, but I think most particularly young women."
    - dannyw 5y ago
      Reminds me of ASMR.
- whitehouse3 5y ago
  This is especially notable with Peter Overby. Excellent journalist and presenter, though.
  - sammalloy 5y ago
    Back in the day, whenever Mr. Overby would come on the radio, I would have loads of fun imagining that he had just been rudely interrupted at the dinner table to do his segment. Then, I would guess at what kind of food he had in his mouth as he gave his hurried report. To me at least, the particular tone of his voice made it sound like he was eating mashed potatoes or a sandwich, and he wanted to get back to his dinner with his family. Yes, I have a colorful interior life inside my head. Don't judge me. But seriously, he has a very unique sound to his voice. I tried to look up his background and where he grew up, but couldn't find anything. It's surprising to me that he hasn't done voice work or animation, as he would be perfect for those roles.
whitehouse3 5y ago
This became worse during COVID as many of the presenters work from home and aren’t as savvy with their momentary mute. Lots of swallowing, coughing, and nose whistling. Particularly during Morning Edition.
Applejinx 5y ago
It's a lot worse with tiny headset mics. Large diaphragm condensers like the Neumann will give you that level of detail, but some of the tiny headset mics HYPE that level of detail unbearably. The Neumanns will at least fail to exaggerate what is already unbearable for you :)

I know some people love the NPR sound and find it intimate and comforting, but I often have to turn it off because the mouth and saliva noises drive me crazy. Misophonia is not fun!

justaman 5y ago

I don't know who it is, but one person in particular seems to have a retainer and it is unbearable. Every time they talk about "tthiss" or "thsat".

jhpankow 5y ago
If it is a female my misophonia suggests it is Mary Louise Kelly. I've gotten used to it. There is also a male voice on one of the weekend shows that might be who you're describing. I wrote in to a cable TV show a decade ago to call out the nose hair whistling and mouth sounds. They never replied to me, but they rolled off the highs for the remainder of the shows.
- cainxinth 5y ago
  There was one NPR broadcaster who used to read the news on weekend mornings for my local station (WHYY), I forget her name, and I haven't heard her in a while thankfully, but she literally whispered the news. It was like someone I don't know, whispering sweet, unsolicited nothings in my ear. Felt uncomfortably intimate in a way I hated. I was always like, "Lady, I don't know you like that, so cut it out."
  - jhpankow 5y ago
    Years ago when I moved for my first job out of school I decided to set my clock radio to the local NPR station (KERA Dallas) to wake up to the news. I had to switch to a hard rock station because I'd fall back asleep to their soft voices.
  - joezydeco 5y ago
    The amount of vocal fry on NPR has become as bad as Mary Louise Kelly's dry mouth clicking. And once you hear it, you can't unhear it.
    - SamBam 5y ago
      Rather, once you've randomly decided that that's a horrible thing. Men (and women) have spoken with vocal fry for the past several millennia, but I don't recall reading of anyone being annoyed by it until recently when everybody decided that millennial women speaking like that on the radio was anathema.
    - zimpenfish 5y ago
      Language Log investigated the "vocal fry problem" a few years back. https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17489 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17489 "And they want to talk about the crazy ways that young women are speaking. And the first thing they do is attribute it to young women, even though young men are doing it too. So it's a policing of young people, but I think most particularly young women."
  - dannyw 5y ago
    Reminds me of ASMR.
whitehouse3 5y ago
This is especially notable with Peter Overby. Excellent journalist and presenter, though.
- sammalloy 5y ago
  Back in the day, whenever Mr. Overby would come on the radio, I would have loads of fun imagining that he had just been rudely interrupted at the dinner table to do his segment. Then, I would guess at what kind of food he had in his mouth as he gave his hurried report. To me at least, the particular tone of his voice made it sound like he was eating mashed potatoes or a sandwich, and he wanted to get back to his dinner with his family. Yes, I have a colorful interior life inside my head. Don't judge me. But seriously, he has a very unique sound to his voice. I tried to look up his background and where he grew up, but couldn't find anything. It's surprising to me that he hasn't done voice work or animation, as he would be perfect for those roles.

whitehouse3 5y ago

This became worse during COVID as many of the presenters work from home and aren’t as savvy with their momentary mute. Lots of swallowing, coughing, and nose whistling. Particularly during Morning Edition.

Applejinx 5y ago

It's a lot worse with tiny headset mics. Large diaphragm condensers like the Neumann will give you that level of detail, but some of the tiny headset mics HYPE that level of detail unbearably. The Neumanns will at least fail to exaggerate what is already unbearable for you :)