Listener Feedback: August 2023

MUSIC: “Oh man, this is really living. Just try and relax. Yeah, cool it, fall apart in my backyard..."

NICK EICHER, HOST: Up next, listener feedback for the month of August. We begin today with a handful of corrections. Listener Audra Langston wrote in saying she loved our August 2nd story on the pool-crashing bear.

However!

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: She told us that was no grizzly. That’s how we ID’d the bear, but it was a black bear, which is a relief to everyone involved.

MUSIC: [LOOK FOR THE BEAR NECESSITIES]

EICHER: If only this next correction were that simple.

Yeah, our story on the 75th anniversary of JAARS missionary aviation, August 10th.

Guatemalan missionary Steve Sywulka wrote in to set the record straight on the life of JAARS founder William Cameron Townsend. We said he started in Mexico, but Townsend actually began there where he learned Cakchiquel—that’s a Mayan language, not Spanish. We also reported that he translated the scriptures, and he did, but not all of them. It was only the New Testament—not the whole Bible. We apologize for the errors.

BROWN: By the way, a few people wrote in about what the “R” in JAARS stands for. We said “Relay,” but several listeners said “Radio.” Well, it’s both.

The mission recently changed its name to mark the diamond anniversary of the Jungle Aviation And Relay Service replacing “Radio” which it had used for three quarters of a century.

EICHER: The next correction comes from the August 14th History Book. Executive Editor Paul Butler misidentified the location of the phrase “the tongue is a fire.” It’s in James chapter 3.

BROWN: One final correction today, in Tuesday’s newscast we mentioned what appeared to be flooding around Los Angeles Dodgers’ Stadium. Turns out the aerial footage looked like a flood, but it was just a wet parking lot.

EICHER: On to a few listener responses to our program. The first one is a critique of commentary from yesterday by Cal Thomas on falling educational standards. Public school teacher John Childs called in to take issue with Cal’s call to action:

CHILDS: My wife and I are both followers of Christ. Looking back through history, wherever there has been war or plague or natural disaster Christians have been the ones who pursue and lean into that—to love our neighbors and to bring the good news of Christ. And I don’t think the answer is to run away from public school but to take the values in the Light of Christ to a dark place that needs it. Thank you.

BROWN: All right, several listeners welcomed back Andree Seu Peterson after hearing her on August 8th.

Pam Dunlap of Garfield, Arkansas, says she missed Andree’s eloquent, poetic, and thought-provoking commentary. And Karen Lindia adds, quoting from her letter: “Her wisdom is timeless, and pointed. We need that.” I think we do, and we have let Andree know.

EICHER: Mervin Fisher is a regular listener to the program, and he wanted us to know that he’s a huge fan of George Grant:

FISHER: He does a great job in his wording. And being myself an amateur linguist and having an interest in etymology, I especially enjoy his monthly piece. Just continue to do the great job you guys do in bringing christ-centered opinions and news reporting, definitely a very needed in today’s culture in society. Thank you.

One more piece of feedback before we go today. This one is for our daily video news program for kids: WorldWatch. And we’re happy to have the program director and host with us, the inimitable Brian Basham. I’ll not try to replicate your good morning greeting, but I do wish you a good morning!

BRIAN BASHAM: I'm going to give you one anyway. Good morning! If you didn't get your coffee this morning, you can have one of those instead.

BROWN: Brian, we wanted to make sure you got to hear this comment from one of your viewers, Maegan Roper. She says her kids not only love the program, they’ve grown:

ROPER: They are more aware of and interested in the world around them. They’ve taken an interest in other countries, people groups, and cultures. They’re becoming more confident in their conversational skills with adults as well. I’ve witnessed them having substantial and meaningful conversations on current events issues with grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and it’s super fun!

BASHAM: Wow! Isn't that beautiful! I love that!

EICHER: Brian, we wanted to wish you a happy fourth anniversary for WORLD Watch. Congratulations on four years of a great program.

BASHAM: I appreciate that, guys. I can't believe we've been going for that long. It feels like we literally just started. Both of you guys have been involved pretty much from the beginning. Nick, you used to help write it at the beginning. And Myrna, you've been doing reports, and guest hosting, and working with our young reporters and help develop them the whole time. It's been, ah man! amazing. It's so fun to share it.

EICHER Absolutely. You know, Brian, going all the way back to the old days. For a guy like me, the old days are just yesterday. Time flies! Brian, there are lots of listeners to this program who love WORLD Watch, but there are also many who've never tried it before. So, why don't you tell a little about what you're doing to make it possible for new viewers to come into WORLD Watch.

BASHAM: Yeah, sure! We always have people who say, "Hey, I'd love to share this with somebody. It's a subscription service, so sometimes that makes it a little more difficult. Well, here's the cool thing. Right now you can tell your friends to go to WORLDWatch.news. Just go to the website, and you can actually try the show out free for three months. So, if you sign up, we're going to give it to you free for three months. And what's cool about that is it won't let you watch the show from this point on. But everything that we've ever done is on that website. And so, we hear a lot of families that come on the show a little later on within the last year, within the last couple years. and they tend to binge watch the news. Can you imagine listening to the news from three years ago? The reason for that, by the way, the way we put it together, it's a lot of fun. So there's a ton of learning that happens there. We edit it, and we present it in a really fun way. You might spend a weekend binge watching the news with your kids. it's really fun.

EICHER: That is totally high praise for a news program, that something like that is binge worthy. And it is binge worthy, so good stuff, Brian.

BROWN: Yes!

BASHAM: Hey, man! I appreciate it.

EICHER: Hey, thanks for dropping by. I appreciate it.

BASHAM: You bet! You guys have a great one.

BROWN: Thanks, Brian!

Well, that’s it for this month’s Listener Feedback. Thanks to everyone who wrote and called in. If you have comments to share with us you can send them to editor@wng.org. And if you’re writing, why not take a moment and record your comments on your phone and send those along as well. We’ve included instructions on how to do that on our website: wng.org/podcasts.

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