NPR's entry into podcasting is going "spectacularly well," says Ken Stern, executive v.p., in Radio World. (Earlier coverage in Current.)

Pubradio consultant John Sutton ponders the idea of "news fatigue" in his latest blog post. "'News fatigue' sounds like a handy answer to questions about public radio's audience decline," he writes. "But it is a 'blame the listener' response."

Media activist Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy has asked PBS's new ombudsman to see whether the network's underwriting rules are permitting underwriters to back programs that serve their interests. He cites the recent American Experience history of Las Vegas, underwritten by the city's tourist authority and a foundation related to the Las Vegas Sun. [Current article.] WGBH told Current that most funding for the show came from usual series sources not related to Las Vegas and that none of the funders saw the program before underwriting the episode.

Peggy Girshman, NPR's assistant managing editor, shares a recipe for tri-color butter cookie swirls in advance of the annual NPR Cookie Day.

NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin reads a 1988 article about NPR and laments that his network has lost some of its past quirkiness.

The Bergen (N.J.) Record profiles WFMU-FM in Jersey City, N.J., and music director Brian Turner. "One of the things I really love about music is discovering and finding out about all these things that dwell on the margins that you didn't even know existed," Turner says. Also: a blogger listens to (almost) nothing but WFMU for a week and lives to tell the tale.