[CPLX]

I found PHC style humor completely insufferable and unlistenable, but members of my family (who grew up in the Midwest in the 50s and 60s) just love it, and there's no accounting for taste of course.

I always thought the show stood as sort of the perfect archetype for what you'd call "white" American culture. Which I'm pretty sure is what David Simon was trying to say in this classic clip from The Wire:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6EpfCzdMoY

[dang]

I used to feel that way, with much annoyance. But it dawned on me that Keillor was really an ironist (a rather prickly one), and that the sentimentalism and old-timey nostalgia were largely camouflage.

I think the day I started changing my view was when they were reading birthday greetings passed up as notes from the audience. Keillor read one that said "Happy birthday to Grandma so-and-so in X-ville, upstate NY. 96 years old and still chopping her own wood." The audience dutifully went "awwww" and clapped. Keillor paused and said: "Why doesn't anybody up there help that old lady out?"

[wahern]

You're confusing sarcasm for irony. Once upon a time you could be ironic without implying anything negative about the subject or object of the irony. Perceptive and incisive irony can elicit complex emotions and thoughts about a subject, but it can and often does end there, regardless of the speaker's personal beliefs.

A quote from Garrison Keillor reprinted in the article alludes to this: "You get old and you realize there are no answers, just stories."

American law schools use the Socratic method for teaching. A good law school professor will never answer a question even when directly posed, but merely respond with another question, often times using classic Socratic irony. With the really good professors, no matter how heavily laden with innuendo their questions, in three years you'll never figure out their actual opinions or beliefs about a subject without resort to their published material outside of class.

(And, FWIW, the biggest mistake you could ever make reading Plato, for example, is to believe that it's obvious what kind of point his protagonists (e.g. Socrates) are trying to make. The Laws is an excellent example.)

That's the type of character Garrison Keillor seems to be, particularly when it comes to questions of culture and sentimentality. If you think he's gaming his audience, then that's sad.

[cylinder]

As a "non white" child of immigrants I had no idea what this show was that was always on late Saturday afternoons as I'd be in a long car ride with my family (they listen to NPR during the week in the car). I didn't understand why there was a studio audience or what this man with "the voice" was talking about, until I decided to research it recently amidst the buzz about the retirement. Listening to some clips now and still can't say I really understand it, but that's fine. It's funny though, I also share some nostalgia about PHC, but for me it's for the old tradition of changing the radio station in the car on Saturdays away from this show, and for so many others it's the show itself.

[renegadesensei]

I'm black and I loved PHC. It and Car Talk were the only things that made me seriously consider donating to NPR. It was the only show I would make an effort to catch on Saturdays when I had to make long drives back and forth from NYC.

[pnathan]

I think it's very likely a product of a bygone era and bygone locale. edit: removed words that added nothing.

[pmoriarty]

One of the least funny shows ever, maybe even worse than Seinfeld. I'm so glad it's dead!