The public
radio network in the
United States, NPR makes an excellent traveling companion. Even in the middle of nowhere, with nothing else on the radio except
country music and
preachers, there's likely to be an NPR station with a receivable signal, broadcasting listenable music and news that often (well, sometimes...) reaches a good approximation of unbiased objectivity.
While driving along highways in strange places, a good strategy is to keep your radio tuned in the lower reaches of the FM band. When one NPR station begins to break up, you will probably find another within a megahertz or so.
One of the most amazing, surreal experiences of my entire life occurred while "NPR chasing" during a blizzard at night along a highway in rural Georgia. I know I was somewhere near Vidalia - where they grow the sweet onions - and had just stopped at a gas station to fill my tank with petrol and my mug with coffee, receiving a free box of stale Krispy Kremes in the bargain. The cashier had warned me of the impending storm, but I paid no mind, driving through the black night and flying white snow, infusing my tired blood with copious amounts of sugar and caffeine, and focusing my concentration (and sanity) on the notably grandiose sounds of Anton Bruckner's music, courtesy of some forgotten European orchestra and the local NPR broadcasters.
I didn't sleep that night. Public radio may very well have saved my life.