Old radio shows and diet plans online
By MIKE BERMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
June 18, 2003

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

Those of you that are old enough to remember that - and thirst for the good old days of radio - can rejoice in what I discovered during one of my frequent Internet surfing safaris.

An outfit known as Radio Spirits has been rebroadcasting classic radio programs on AM stations throughout the U.S., including "When Radio Was" hosted by Stan Freeburg (remember him?); "Radio Super Heroes" with Kris Erik Stevens; "Radio Movie Classics" with Jeffrey Lyons; and "Radio Theatre" with Bob Gibson. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.

If a casual dose isn't enough, the company also operates three Web sites where you can feast on thousands of old shows. Of course the main purpose of these sites is to sell you collections of these programs on compact disk or tape, but you can also get access to their vast library by subscribing to their streaming audio service. A mere $19.95 per month gives you the right to download up to 20 hours of programming per month to your hard drive or a CD.

One of the sites, www.radiospirits.com, gives you free access to streaming audios of recent programs, enough to whet the appetite for more. The other two, www.whenradiowas.com and www.radioclassics.com, provide access to their download service and the company's online store.

Another great site I discovered, which relates more to health than to nostalgia (unless you're nostalgic about being as thin as you were in your teens) is www.ediets.com.

Although the site seems to preach the virtues of the controversial Atkins low-carbohydrate diet, you do have the option to go with an alternative plan from The Zone or from eDiets.

Operated by experts in the areas of nutrition, fitness, psychology, motivation, eating disorders and others who are single-minded in their aim to keep you thin, trim and healthy, e-diets features a questionnaire you complete that helps them recommend the correct plan. The site is designed to be intuitive enough to take all of your health problems into consideration before offering its proposals - it won't recommend the Atkins plan for diabetics.

There are also online forums members can participate in if they feel they need a morale boost or their egos need to be stroked, 24-hour support and via email, through their toll-free hotline, or through a live one-on-one chat session with one of their associates.

The fee is $5 per week, which gives you a custom-designed diet and access to the eDiets store and forums. Plus you have access to a sort of "personal trainer" who will help you get over the hills and quagmires dieters often face.

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