Writer Rick Moody critiques public radio at Transom: “Oh, here come the exotic sitars, to indicate that the story is from another part of the world.”

The Public Radio Exchange v. 2.0 has arrived.

In an AP profile, On the Media hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield cite The Daily Show as a primary inspiration.

Columnist Nat Hentoff says CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson demeans Bush administration leaders by implying they need his “ham-handed” defense from criticism on public TV. Hentoff, however, concludes media should avoid these problems by rejecting government funding altogether.

The FCC has decided in favor of 14 Calvary Chapels seeking licenses for low-power FM stations. (PDF.) The National Lawyers Guild Center on Democratic Communications had opposed the would-be broadcasters, arguing that they had not sufficiently demonstrated a commitment to local broadcasting. The FCC at first agreed with the Guild, but the Chapels revised their applications and prevailed.

The winning of an award from Jazz Week magazine has prompted KUVO-FM in Denver to relax its dress code, reports the Denver Post. (A dress code in public radio? Must be a first.)

Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president of WETA-TV/FM in Washington, D.C., has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, according to FishbowlDC. She will receive treatment in coming months and will hand the reins over to Joe Bruns, WETA’s executive v.p., during that time. (Statement from her husband, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.)) (Via DCRTV.)

David Boaz of the Cato Institute offers ten top reasons to privatize public broadcasting.

Will Shortz, puzzlemaster for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, has the hottest mind of the New York Times‘ male staffers, according to Gawker readers.

Columnist Robert Novak reports on the “surprising relationships” that weren’t disclosed during the July 11 Senate hearing on public broadcasting, which he describes as an orchestrated ambush of CPB Board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson.

The Chicago Sun-Times goes behind the scenes with Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!, which recently switched to live tapings before an audience. “[W]e did it so long without an audience it was almost like a rehearsal, a six-year rehearsal,” says Doug Berman, e.p. “And we got so good at it that by the time we went out in front of an audience, it was great every time.” (Via Romenesko.)

In the New York Times, This American Life host Ira Glass expresses mixed reactions about the show’s recent experiments with television.

An executive council seeking the director of the new Iowa Public Radio network is looking for a candidate with “Midwestern cultural competency,” according to the Iowa State Daily.

Producer Jay Allison offers stations tips for creating interstitial content on their airwaves, including “Sonic IDs”.

The New York Times looks at Open Source, the new show from Christopher Lydon: “Because of the program’s interactive component, its benchmark of success might be less the number of stations that ultimately carry the program and more the online presence Open Source establishes.”