The “particularly mellifluous” names of NPR correspondents have inspired songs as well as namesakes including a turtle, chihuahua, goat, cow — even a restaurant in Salem, Ore. The Atlantic takes a look at NPR’s interesting on-air nomenclature, and whether their names are more unusual than most.
The answer: Not really. “It’s simply that you don’t hear the staff at Kinko’s saying their names over and over again, out loud,” says the ordinarily named Robert Smith of Planet Money. “Kinko’s was founded by Paul Orfalea. If he had said, ‘Paul Orfalea, NPR News, Los Angeles,’ you’d think, what a perfect NPR name.”