Living without a TV (thread repost)

[momopi]

My $0.02: technically, you could watch all the TV shows on your laptop, it's just that with a computer you have more control with content selection.


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http://www.ocreader.com/forum/viewtopic ... 106&t=1438

I have been meaning to compile this thread for a while now; good I have some time to type today. What is a forum without a NPR thread!

The wife and I have been living without a TV now for more than 6 years. We used to have just a TV and DVD player just for movies, but since the kid, even that has gone away. What started out as an experiment has became a lifestyle, although there are some pop culture shows I must have missed the past few years, I get as much thrill reading the plot on wikipedia.

I don’t think I have missed much, and I am just as informed if not more than everyone else. The laptop is the main workhorse of the household, its serves me, the wife and the kid baby Einstein videos during meal times. Yes, I eye the large Vizio TVs at Costco every time we go; and the wife knows to leave me alone for at least 5 minutes before I rejoin the shopping; and yes, we will eventually own a TV again someday, possibly when we stop renting; but as for now, I love how simple life is.

So if you are brave enough to turn off the tube this summer, here are a few suggestions on some alternatives for hours of TV-less entertainment.

======

This American Life
http://www.thisamericanlife.org

I love radio, I love listening to people, I love listening to people’s stories, and I love the real life dramas, adventures and challenges people go through. TAL has been one of my favorite NPR shows of all time. Ira Glass the host covers a wide range of economic, cultural, art, personal and science reports. They almost always have fascinating, gripping stories that will grab you for the hour. I have never seen the TV show but I assume it’s the same format.

Each week you can download a podcast for free and listen at your leisure. The great thing about radio is that you can be entertained anytime, doing almost anything. House chores, morning baby duty and sales drive calls have never been the same since pod casting.

=======

Radio Lab
http://www.radiolab.org

Radio Lab has a bent towards science and academics. The various guests are mostly professors and scientists. The hosts Jad and Robert helps explore a wide range of scientific topics by making it really easy to digest. You will be smarter after every episode; if not you will definitely feel smarter.

Each episode is archive and downloadable. The other reason why I’m always quick to promote NPR shows is that they do need the donations; so if you feel enriched please give accordingly!

======

The Story
http://www.thestory.org

With Dick Gordon is another great show filled with various guests covering a variety of current events; such as the gulf spill, the wars and economy. He gives a good interview and gets inside the heads of each story. Again, I can not tell how many times I have reference these stories in class, to friends, to clients and the family. It is what keeps me interesting and current. And again, the fact that these are all real life events really makes it even more interesting.

Dick interviewing style has really helped me to ask better questions with others I meet. It has helped me sell better, make new friendships and cultivate deeper ones.

====

Studio 360
http://www.studio360.org

With Kurk Andersen has all the elements above with a bent towards pop culture and the arts. His shows are also all downloadable but each episode is broken down into various sections. Make sure your MP3 player has it all in order before playing.

=====

The Theory of Everything
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510061

With Benjamin Walker is a show that has been discontinued; but I love going back and picking up on some lost episodes. They are all archived some downloadable some streamable through PRX

PRX
http://www.prx.org/series/2367

=====

The Moth
http://www.themoth.org

I knew there was something missing. The Moth Radio Hour is a simple show; one stage, one speaker at a time, one microphone and that is it. No notes, no edits all real and true stories. Some stories are funny, some are dark, some heartbreaking and all are interesting. You have to listen to know... It's a little hard to find but here is the link to download...
http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast

=====

[The_Adventurer]

Or, as WInston once said, get overseas where your real life will be more interesting than anything on the tube.

[ultraviolet]

I gave up TV a number of years ago as a New Years Resolution experiment and it stuck. These days I wonder how people have time to even watch TV. Between the Internet and all the books I have that I want to read, there simply is no time even if i had a TV.

[jounderw]

I have been living without a TV - or should I say Cable/Standard Televison Channels. The only thing I use my TV for is Movies and it saves me moolah that would have otherwise been spentt cable bills every month plus you can watch everything online now anyway.

[Adama]

Anyone know if DSL is fast enough to watch movies on Hulu or scifi/syfy.com?

[have2fly]

American TV channels just SUCK. Besides History and Discovery maybe. Fox news is a bunch of retarded propaganda that is brainwashing people everyday. CNN = Constantly Negative News. All they show is rapists, killings and just a few world news. I was SO SO depressed when I moved to the USA that CNN or any other news network DOES NOT cover world news as they do in other countries. Russian news are filled with world news from any country out there.

So anyway - I had no TV when I was a student and I have no TV right now. I save about $70 per month, it comes out to be more than $840 per year and if you add in time wasted watching stupid sitcoms and absolutely useless football games - that time of your life that you actually do something useful or just enjoy yourself.

[NorthAmericanguy]

American TV channels just SUCK. Besides History and Discovery maybe. Fox news is a bunch of retarded propaganda that is brainwashing people everyday. CNN = Constantly Negative News. All they show is rapists, killings and just a few world news. I was SO SO depressed when I moved to the USA that CNN or any other news network DOES NOT cover world news as they do in other countries. Russian news are filled with world news from any country out there.

So anyway - I had no TV when I was a student and I have no TV right now. I save about $70 per month, it comes out to be more than $840 per year and if you add in time wasted watching stupid sitcoms and absolutely useless football games - that time of your life that you actually do something useful or just enjoy yourself.

lol, even the history channel sucks. All they talk about is WW1 and WW2.

[NorthAmericanguy]

As far as the topic. I gave up TV in 2004 and never looked back. I don't even watch movies because I rather read a book, or watch a rare documentary/lecture, on the internet to LEARN something.

I also play chess on my computer a lot. I will admit though, I found out about pirate bay on the internet and I downloaded a movie for the first time to see if it really worked. (Eyes Wide Shut, 1999)

[jamesbond]

As far as the topic. I gave up TV in 2004 and never looked back. I don't even watch movies because I rather read a book, or watch a rare documentary/lecture, on the internet to LEARN something.

I also play chess on my computer a lot. I will admit though, I found out about pirate bay on the internet and I downloaded a movie for the first time to see if it really worked. (Eyes Wide Shut, 1999)

Good for you for giving up tv Northamericanguy! Since 2004, wow, that's a long time without any tv. I don't watch "your typical american tv shows" like desperate housewives, american idol, I never watched friends or seinfeld either.

I do watch turner classic movies because they show a lot of old classic movies. I also like some of the interesting shows on the travel channel, history channel and the discovery channel.

I also subscribe to netflixs and have seen a total of about 376 movies, tv shows and documentaries since I joined almost 3 years ago. They have just about everything possible available for people to rent from movies, tv shows and documentaries.

[Winston]

Never watch the television - Alan Watt

[MrPeabody]

I don't have a television. Once in a while I will watch old movies on Youtube's OPENFLIX. This is a unique site which has available for viewing old movies which no longer have copyrights because they were allowed to expire. Most of these movies were made before trash took over Hollywood and some of them are quite good.

If you live outside the US, you can't get NETFLIX and other subscription services. Even AOL streaming won't allow out of US viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/user/openflix

[Jester]

My $0.02: technically, you could watch all the TV shows on your laptop, it's just that with a computer you have more control with content selection.


==================

http://www.ocreader.com/forum/viewtopic ... 106&t=1438

I have been meaning to compile this thread for a while now; good I have some time to type today. What is a forum without a NPR thread!

The wife and I have been living without a TV now for more than 6 years. We used to have just a TV and DVD player just for movies, but since the kid, even that has gone away. What started out as an experiment has became a lifestyle, although there are some pop culture shows I must have missed the past few years, I get as much thrill reading the plot on wikipedia.

I don’t think I have missed much, and I am just as informed if not more than everyone else. The laptop is the main workhorse of the household, its serves me, the wife and the kid baby Einstein videos during meal times. Yes, I eye the large Vizio TVs at Costco every time we go; and the wife knows to leave me alone for at least 5 minutes before I rejoin the shopping; and yes, we will eventually own a TV again someday, possibly when we stop renting; but as for now, I love how simple life is.

So if you are brave enough to turn off the tube this summer, here are a few suggestions on some alternatives for hours of TV-less entertainment.

======

This American Life
http://www.thisamericanlife.org

I love radio, I love listening to people, I love listening to people’s stories, and I love the real life dramas, adventures and challenges people go through. TAL has been one of my favorite NPR shows of all time. Ira Glass the host covers a wide range of economic, cultural, art, personal and science reports. They almost always have fascinating, gripping stories that will grab you for the hour. I have never seen the TV show but I assume it’s the same format.

Each week you can download a podcast for free and listen at your leisure. The great thing about radio is that you can be entertained anytime, doing almost anything. House chores, morning baby duty and sales drive calls have never been the same since pod casting.

=======

Radio Lab
http://www.radiolab.org

Radio Lab has a bent towards science and academics. The various guests are mostly professors and scientists. The hosts Jad and Robert helps explore a wide range of scientific topics by making it really easy to digest. You will be smarter after every episode; if not you will definitely feel smarter.

Each episode is archive and downloadable. The other reason why I’m always quick to promote NPR shows is that they do need the donations; so if you feel enriched please give accordingly!

======

The Story
http://www.thestory.org

With Dick Gordon is another great show filled with various guests covering a variety of current events; such as the gulf spill, the wars and economy. He gives a good interview and gets inside the heads of each story. Again, I can not tell how many times I have reference these stories in class, to friends, to clients and the family. It is what keeps me interesting and current. And again, the fact that these are all real life events really makes it even more interesting.

Dick interviewing style has really helped me to ask better questions with others I meet. It has helped me sell better, make new friendships and cultivate deeper ones.

====

Studio 360
http://www.studio360.org

With Kurk Andersen has all the elements above with a bent towards pop culture and the arts. His shows are also all downloadable but each episode is broken down into various sections. Make sure your MP3 player has it all in order before playing.

=====

The Theory of Everything
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510061

With Benjamin Walker is a show that has been discontinued; but I love going back and picking up on some lost episodes. They are all archived some downloadable some streamable through PRX

PRX
http://www.prx.org/series/2367

=====

The Moth
http://www.themoth.org

I knew there was something missing. The Moth Radio Hour is a simple show; one stage, one speaker at a time, one microphone and that is it. No notes, no edits all real and true stories. Some stories are funny, some are dark, some heartbreaking and all are interesting. You have to listen to know... It's a little hard to find but here is the link to download...
http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast

=====

Really a USEFUL, HELPFUL post. THANKS.

[Billy]

I hate television