Nagarik FM

Nagarik FM carries the sound of a Nepali neighborhood: lok dohori in the morning, madal and sarangi in the afternoon, and phone-in talk that runs long past its slot. The name means 'citizen,' and the programming leans that way. Ordinary people call in. Local singers get airtime long before Kathmandu's labels notice them. You'll hear Narayan Gopal and Arun Thapa next to Kutumba's folk-rock and whatever Bartika Eam Rai track is going around that month. It's not slick. It's not trying to be. Nagarik FM live is the closest thing many towns have to a public square, and Nepali radio rarely gets more…