Hello NPR, are you listening?

When I last checked, which was actually just a few seconds ago, I had 191 podcasts waiting for me in iTunes. I'm compulsive about collecting them, not so compulsive about listening to them, apparently. To be fair, some I have listened to, I just haven't gotten around to deleting them. Some, I will probably just delete without listening.

Anyway, I'm always looking for more. I'm beginning to find out what a great source National Public Radio is for theatre-related feature stories. Unfortunately, I can't always be in my car or at my computer listening to them.

There is a performing arts page on NPR's Web site, which seems to be updated fairly regularly. Among the recent segments I missed:

A story by legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg on Laurence Fishburne's performance in Thurgood;

How the overture is making a comeback on Broadway in revivals like Gypsy and South Pacific;

A look back at the career of Mel Brooks, who talks about Young Frankenstein and a potential stage version of Blazing Saddles; and a look forward in the career of Tony-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda from In the Heights;

An interview with Mark Rylance, Tony winner for his performance in Boeing Boeing, about the possibility that Shakespeare didn't write all of the plays attributed to him;

An interview with Morgan Freeman from April, when he was on Broadway in The Country Girl, that looks back on some of his other stage roles;

A story about the Denver Center Theatre Company and its mission to stage full-fledged productions of works by new playwrights;

A witty essay by novelist Marc Acito on the allure of musicals and the joys of singing out loud, in public, whenever the urge strikes him;

From In Character, which examines memorable American characters, there's Auntie Mame and Troy Maxson, from August Wilson's Fences. Actually, there are a lot of characters from the world of theatre in this series: Blanche DuBois, Willy Loman, Mama Rose.

There are lots more, and it can be difficult to keep track of them. What I need is a weekly podcast of all the theatre stories from all of its programs, like NPR assembles for segments on books and movies and music.

If someone from the programming department is reading this, it doesn't have to be long - 30 minutes or so would be great - that's half of my workout on the treadmill.

And no, that's not me huffing and puffing in the drawing. Because obviously, it's the wrong gender, the person isn't wearing headphones, I don't own a lime green exercise outfit and, most importantly, I only wish I could work that hard!

Hear America singing

If you're like me and you love to multitask, - or if you hate multitasking but love music - here's something to do while you're sitting at your computer putting the finishing touches on a new blog post.

Around the turn of the 21st century, National Public Radio assembled the NPR 100 - a list of the most important American musical works of the 20th century - and produced a short segment about each one of them.

The ones I've heard have all been pretty fascinating, and thanks to the virtually unlimited capacity of cyberspace, they're still available for your listening pleasure. Unfortunately, you can only listen to them as streaming audio, so you can't download them as MP3s and put them on your iPod.

The music comes from all genres - show tunes, folk, rock 'n' roll, pop, gospel, blues, jazz, classical. I guarantee you'll find something that interests you. Since I'm a history buff, and a bit of a folkie, some of my non-show-tune favorites tell the stories behind "Blowin in the Wind," "We Shall Overcome" and "This Land is Your Land." It was also fun to hear the stories behind some of my favorite albums, like Tapestry and Born to Run.

There are quite a few shows and songs on the list from the world of musical theatre. The ones I've listened to include Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, My Fair Lady and A Chorus Line. Each segment talks about the show's history and cultural significance.

Here's the description for the Oklahoma segment: The Broadway musical Oklahoma!, premiered in 1943, and was expected to flop. Richard Rodgers wrote it without his long-time lyricist Lorenzo Hart (its librettist, Oscar Hammerstein, was only, at that time, famous for his failures). However, the show did a little better than expected: it launched a revolution in American musical theater and turned a huge profit.

For some background, you can read the transcript of an interview with Murray Horwitz, who was vice president for cultural programming at NPR at the time, talking about how the list was assembled. Also, here are are some related stories, and a list of 300 songs from which the final hundred were picked.

Horwitz says that NPR got input from listeners and from a panel of 18 musicians. The two groups weren't all that far apart. The song "Louie Louie" and Madonna were two cases where listeners rated them higher than the artists. Horwitz says that a lot of people also wanted The Beatles on the list. "We were at pains to point out that they were not American."

When NPR began the project, Horwitz said that some staffers objected, calling it "a bogus millennium gimmick." But he disagreed. "And my argument was if, at the end of the day, a few more people listen to Samuel Barber's "Adagio For Strings" or Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame," this is a good thing. And if we can start some discussion about the real significance of American musical expression, which is one of our country's great gifts to the world, this will be terrific."

iPod therefore I am, Part II

Since some of you out there unwrapped iPods on Christmas or Hanukkah, I thought I'd continue to write about my favorite podcasts. I covered films earlier. Here are some book-related ones that I like. After reading a good book, I often poke around on the Internet searching for interviews with the author, and these are good places to start.

But first, before you start uploading your iPod with your favorie tunes and podcasts, iLounge is a great reference source for reviews of iPod accessories, including that all-important case with a screen protector to keep your baby looking shiny and new.

Barnes & Noble Meet the Writers: These are short podcasts, usually running from 10 to 15 minutes, but the authors provide some interesting insight into the writing process. Recent guests have included Washington Post senior Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks talking about "Fiasco," his bestseller about the war in Iraq, humorist David Sedaris, Chris Van Allsburg, prize-winning author and illustrator of children's books, and Vince Flynn, writer of political thrillers, who discusses struggle with dyslexia and how he got started as an author. The Web site also has links to video interviews, including a nice one with "Wicked" author Gregory Maguire.

BBC's World Book Club: The BBC's Harriet Gilbert has a half-hour monthly program that offers World Service listeners a chance to send in their questions. Recent episodes have included a fifth-anniversary interview with Michael Ondaatje, who discusses his novel "The English Patient," a talk with "Tales of the City" author Armistead Maupin, and crime writer Sara Paretsky. January's program will feature J.G. Ballard, talking about "Empire of the Sun." You can submit a question here.

Fresh Air with Terry Gross from WHYY in Philadelphia and On Point with Tom Ashbrook from WBUR in Boston: While these programs cover more than books, they often have authors as guests. Each show is about 45 minutes, long enough for some in-depth, thought-provoking questions. I've especially enjoyed Terry Gross' interviews with novelist Philip Roth and playwright Tony Kushner. Tom Ashbrook's recent shows have included a look at Jane Austen mania and an interview with "Little Children" author Tom Perrotta.

NPR Books: Like it does for music and movies, National Public Radio collects the best segments on books from all of its shows each week and puts them in one tidy podcast package ranging from 15 to 45 minutes. The books podcast includes author interviews, reviews and feature stories. Recent segments have looked at taking British novelist Ian McEwan's "Atonement" from page to screen, remembering author Norman Mailer, and a discussion of "The Dirt on Clean," Katherine Ashenburg's new book on the history of cleanliness. You can find a complete list of NPR podcasts here.

Slate's Audio Book Club: Slate.com assembles a roundtable of panelists who discuss a single title. There's no set schedule, they seem to do it once every few months. Each program runs about an hour. The choices have included fiction and nonfiction, newly published books and classics, ranging from Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" to Toni Morrison's "Beloved," to Philip Roth's "Everyman" to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope."

Washington Post Book World: Book World editors Marie Arana and Ron Charles interview two authors in the half-hour show. Recent guests have included the very funny Christopher Buckley, author of "Thank you for Smoking," talking about his new book "Boomsday," and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, who's moved on from the Greatest Generation to chronicling the 1960s.