People love this Google Earth-style window into radio stations all over the world

Well here’s a fabulous way to spend a few moments (hours) of your day, something called radio.garden that allows you to travel the world, Google Earth-style, and drop in on what people are listening to on their local radio station.

It went viral on Twitter after it was shared by @Pogue and, well, have a go for yourself. (Be warned – it ain’t ‘alf addictive).

This is the COOLEST. A Google Earth-type representation of the planet. Every green dot is a radio station. Click any dot to listen in. It’s like cultural teleportation. You could spend hours with this thing… https://t.co/rdEHUUfgvk pic.twitter.com/VJgyzVClJD

— David Pogue (@Pogue) February 14, 2021

And here are just a few of the things people were saying about it today.

Holy crap, what fun. A hundred years ago I went through a radio phase, building first a crystal set, and then a 3-transistor short wave radio. From the DC suburbs I listened to the BBC from London, and odd places like Albania and Johannesburg, South Africa. Spent hours listening.

— J.D. Douglass (@Blackwater52) February 14, 2021

This is absolutely fantastic. https://t.co/Q5j6EpDZLX

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) February 15, 2021

Discovered this last week. Found an awesome 80s radio station in Reykjavik, Iceland. 🎶

— Katie Bear 🌱🐶❤⚾️ (@KatieNorCalBear) February 14, 2021

This is a truly incredible experience. https://t.co/81MnTTXsCf

— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) February 14, 2021

This is brilliant.
Listening to Bob Marley on Radio AkuAku
Hanga Roa, Chile

— kami (@kamik1980) February 14, 2021

OMG, thank you @Pogue for posting this. I just listened to live radio music in Tomsk, Kobe, Entebbe, Reykjavik, Montreal and East Lansing. Dangerously addictive, and fabulous.@deborahamos https://t.co/bPo0FSKTvb

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) February 14, 2021

This is the coolest thing ever. Totally fell down the rabbit hole listening.

— TO Strong, Wearing a mask, Brenda (she/her) (@Bardswan) February 14, 2021

No wonder this link is so massively retweeted. It's a massive global jukebox–the thousands of radio stations in the whole Earth. https://t.co/6u9X8tll6x

— Stewart Brand (@stewartbrand) February 15, 2021

Isle of Wight Radio? Cool.
Mirabel Radio in Lagos Nigeria? Cool.
Kringvarp Føroya radio in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands? Cool.
Radio Harstad in Norway? Cool.
Radio Tanger Med in Ksar es Seghir, Morocco? Cool.
MFM 92.6 in Stellenbosch, South Africa? BANGS.

— Vertex (@BurtonPixels) February 14, 2021

This remains maybe the coolest thing the internet has ever produced. https://t.co/fMSyHN7tbs

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) February 15, 2021

And there was also this …

A great tool but somehow not as romantic as waiting for sunset to see what distant AM signals your radio can squeeze through the ether. I remember lying in bed in the west of Ireland as a boy hearing “This is Radio Moscow broadcasting to Great Britain & Ireland” on a transistor.

— Boyle O’Reilly (@Boyle_OReilly) February 14, 2021

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Source radio.garden H/T Twitter @Pogue