Across the Universe

 

If you enjoy listening to radio from all over - over in the next county or over across the seven seas - I recommend a free app that will give you hours of fun listening!

It's called Radio Garden and you access it via http.radio.garden on a mobile device or a desktop. Once you're there, you navigate a globe that appears, zoom in on the green dots you'll see spread out on a map background (each dot is a radio station) and you'll be transported miles away.

It even gives you the feel of tuning in an old radio. You hear slight static and crackle as you scan the dial, and then you'll hear small-town stations playing the same music you hear on major stations and then you'll hear major stations from New York or London playing the same song - or you'll hear songs you never heard before. If you like a station, click on the heart symbol and that station will be saved on a list you can easily click on again.

Studio Puckey is the name of the outfit that came up with this idea. They're in Amsterdam, and I tell you, if this technology had been available when I was a lad, I would have whiled away many an hour, or entire day, let's be honest. 

The 3D Google Earth interface is what shows you where are you, so to speak. Radio stations that wish to participate (and why wouldn't they?) simply have to beam up a signal converted to streaming editing. 

Moving around the globe, one can listen to music, news, talk shows (people are just as vapid elsewhere as here) live sporting events and even distant commercials!

I've heard live radio dramas from northern California, World War II speeches and plays from Britain, a talk show from Sri Lanka, a high school station from Delaware where the principal spins some of his favorite records one hour a week, and two interesting sites: a station from London that plays bird calls (and nothing but) 24 hours a day and AmbiNature Radio from Zurich, Switzerland, which gives a steady diet of nature sounds all day. That station is marvelous background for an afternoon nap.

Or so I am told.