Glynn Washington for NPR Host

NovoMetro - Oakland, CA, USA - If you’re like me, you confuse your public radio shows, except for Fresh Air, of course.  I’m not proud of it – it’s just that I don’t listen to public radio as much as I did when I had a one-hour daily commute.

But what I do remember is that Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me is a very popular radio show.  I never really listened to it, but I always heard about it. So I was a little taken aback when Glynn Washington, who may very well be the voice of tomorrow’s public radio, said that Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me represented everything that was wrong with public radio today.

Wait, wait...don’t get him wrong. Glynn doesn’t hate public radio at all. “I’ve always been a fan of This American Life,” he says. But lately, public radio been getting on his nerves. “It’s so awful and suburban,” he says. “I think what’s happening is that public radio is getting more and more corporate. A few years back, it was more community-focused.”

Alas! If public radio were really more corporate, the guys that ran it might be trying a little harder to figure out how to increase their listener base. Or maybe they are. They’ve launched a hunt for a new anchor. And of course, just like the scores of talent shows on the television, this one looks to its audience to judge the contest. Call it This American Life Idol.