Takeaway The Takeaway

The Takeaway, in case you haven't heard it, is a new radio show started by Public Radio station WNYC, in New York. If you haven't heard it, don't bother, because it is awful.

The hosts are John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji. John and Adaora seem like perfectly nice people, but they should be doing something else. Hockenberry plays the role of a sort of Howard Stern, and Udoji acts like the sidekick Robin. Though they try to joke around, they're not funny.

The program is disjointed, too loud for so early in the morning, confusing, and so far below the standard usually heard on Public Radio. It really sounds like commercial radio. There are voices coming from everywhere. Every once in a while a woman whose accent indicates that she came from the BBC reads the headlines. I rather like British accents, but on The Takeaway there are just too many voices. It's live, too, and they try to get listener participation.

National Public Radio's Morning Edition starts at 5 a.m. Then The Takeaway takes over for an hour at 6 a.m. At 7 a.m. Morning Edition resumes until 9 a.m. Meanwhile, there's that awful hour.

To be fair, if one wants to hear Morning Edition throughout the morning, you can switch to WNYC-AM, which carries Morning Edition in its entirety. Other areas of the country don't have the option. The Takeaway is carried nationally by Public Radio International.

I like listening to FM radio, and if I want to stay in bed a little longer, I shouldn't have to get up to change to AM.

This month WNYC will have its quarterly fund drive. It'll be interesting to see how The Takeaway affects the drive.

I fully support Public Radio, but the sooner The Takeaway goes away, the better.