You missed a .99.

I listen to NPR one hour a week for reruns of Car Talk. When they end next year I will stop listening.

I find car talk boring as hell.

Last year they had a story about a Marine coming home to his son.  That's pretty mainstream.

This year they have one about these two guys, and it's a very compelling story when asked if they hope the children remember them:  the two said they hope the kids don't, because they hope the kids don't ever remember that particular disruption in their lives - when they weren't allowed to live with their own parents.  That's a compelling hook.  Air time is limited, and I don't know how many competing stories they may have had for the slots, but I can see how this one made the cut.

I listen to 2 NPR affiliates in L.A. because they have only a limited number of ads, whereas the other stations have 20-30 mins of ads per hour.

This.  Every other program/spot they have features a lispy man or a gravely, gutteral woman.

We all know the schtick. What do you expect to "learn"?  A story - any story - will be segued into any of the usual, predictable narratives.
There's no useful takeaway or the time invested.

Ring a bell?  That's all that's going on here.

My favorite show was Science Friday, but even the Trump derp has managed to infest what was generally a very apolitical program.    I find myself tuning into the local rock station more and more as NPR is damn near intolerable.