Today was Juan Williams' last day as host of Talk of the Nation, a well balanced and informed talk show on National Public Radio.

Appropriately, one of the last shows he did was on talk radio, and it pointed out for me a few reasons I like NPR and Talk of the Nation in particular.

The point was made during that hour that lots of shows like the ones that Rush Limbaugh and Laura Schlessinger do are all about the host. Callers exist for the purpose of making the host look good, and views that may be counter to the those of the host are effectively shut out, whether through screening or on-air ridicule. To a large extent, the point of these shows is for you to hear what you already believe. "Mega-dittos, El Rushbo!"

The main appeal of Talk of the Nation for me is that it's a great place to hear equally from two opposing sides of an issue without any screaming, and usually without any name-calling.

Julie says that some of the people who call in to Talk of the Nation are sometimes a little lacking in smarts. I say that she should listen to some of the other talk radio shows if she wants to get a real moron smorgasbord.

Anyway, I liked Juan Williams and thought he was a great host. It's interesting to me that I never really thought of him as left-leaning, though he clearly is and plays that role on the Fox News Channel. Supposedly he'll still be around at NPR to do commentary, which I'll look forward to hearing.