Hey, Auntie: advance Australia, please!

A bouquet to Auntie: ABC Radio National is simply fantastic on Saturdays. I stick with it from early morning till about the time John Carga's opera show comes on at 4pm -- but I don't even hate that and usually have it on in the background. I admit that by 5pm and Into the Music, my interest is waning, but I much prefer talk to music shows. Especially those weird, quiet, repetitive and mechanical ones that seem to dominate weekend late nights. Yawn! Then I go dial surfing for some American evangelist -- anything, anything at all to stop the programming of 50 minutes of dripping taps or singing bridges.

Some of today's shows were spectacular, rolling one after the other:

What’s in a Selfish Gene?

Whatever happened to Helen Demidenko?

To Solaris and beyond

Painting the weather

Apart from that, all I have to say today about ABC-RN is that I wonder why they call coffins 'caskets'? This grating, unnecessary Americanism has been used many, many times this week in stories about the death of Private Kovco. Hey, Auntie: advance Australia, please!

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