Radio fun for a snowy morning

I'm sitting in my kitchen this morning, looking out over a dusting of snow that arrived in Victoria last night. It's a blustery morning and looks like it's going to stay that way. But it's warm in here. Welcome to winter on the West Coast. Like our politics, things are different out here.

But what I wanted to share with you was a little gem I found on the This American Life blog. If you haven't heard of This American Life, or host Ira Glass, then I highly recommend you set aside some time to download the podcast and listen. It's easily one of the best shows on radio and worth setting aside some time this weekend to listen.

What I found this morning was a delightful post featuring several short radio spots recorded by Alec Baldwin, of TV's 30 Rock fame. Alec offered to help out public radio during its pledge drive and worked with some writers to put them together:

This past Summer, Alec Baldwin told producers at WNYC that he'd be willing to do some promos for the upcoming Fall pledge drive, and suggested getting Ira Glass involved. So Ira and David Krasnow and Rex Doane wrote and produced several spots featuring Alec and a bunch of public radio hosts and announcers. Maybe you heard these spots on the radio. And in perhaps the first instance in history of people seeking out the pledge drive, listeners have been asking us if they can hear them again.

So they've put together a nice collection and posted them on their web page. They're funny, and effective. No word on whether they helped with donations but I suspect they might have. They made me send along some money to support public radio. Even though I live in Canada, I benefit a lot from the programming south of the border and I don't mind paying something for it. If you feel the same way, consider a donation. It's that time of year, right?

Here's the link to the radio spots.

Enjoy.