It's somewhere past 6 p.m. in the middle of the gas-guzzling commute home from work, and certain Southland residents with certain types of radio presets are used to passing this time pleasantly enough with "All Things Considered" on KPCC-FM (89.3).
Except today (and for the last couple of weeks), people are not so interested in the first woman who ran for president in 1872 or this week's installment of "This I Believe." They want the juicy stuff -- news about Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, an update on the credit crisis, more news on security-backed mortgages. Out of the way, Michele Norris, Robert Siegel and Melissa Block, they think -- bring on Kai Ryssdal and "Marketplace."
A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine the public-radio faithful anxiously awaiting a business program, but a year ago most of them had probably never heard of "credit default swaps" or "commercial paper." Now, engaged Americans find the rise and fall of the Dow more fascinating than Troopergate or even Madonna finally splitting with Guy Ritchie. The economy has become our national obsession, and for the public-radio listener, "Marketplace," the 20-year-old business program from American Public Media, has never been more relevant.
Or, it sometimes seems, more irreverent.
"Today is the second full working day of the post-bailout era," host Ryssdal's commanding voice told the audience one day last week. "Since the rescue package became law last Friday, the Dow Industrials are down about a thousand points, a great headline number -- you'll probably see it someplace tomorrow -- but that's not the real story. . . . "
On Oct. 9, the show led with: "We've said before that the Dow is not the entire U.S. economy, but as a snapshot? Boy, it is not a pretty picture."
Even during the darkest times of the past dark weeks, Ryssdal's smooth and wry delivery has carried what almost sounds like an extra jauntiness to it. His listeners vacillate between appreciating the light tone, which counteracts the doomsaying pouring from TV news, and wanting to throttle him because he seems to be having a blast while they worry about their shrinking 401(k)s.
"We've been criticized that now is no time for humor," says executive producer J.J. Yore. "I would argue that now is exactly the time for humor. The economic crisis is a critical story, but it isn't 9/11. . . . It could potentially be the death of a way of life, but it's not about mortality."
