Radio just isn't the way it used to be. It's not that "this ain't your father's radio." This isn't even the radio you knew five years ago. A loosening of media ownership rules (via the 1996 Telecommunications Act) has transformed what was once a local medium into more of a national one, one that put playing more "safe" mainstream material repeatedly in place of diverse content. And while Internet streaming has opened our ears to specific tastes that align with our listening palettes, it didn't align with our increasingly mobile lifestyles. The advent of the App store, however, has created an ecosystem of apps that stream audio content while also aligning with our mobile lifestyles, and I'll highlight a few of my essentials.

• A large library of podcasts. Why listen via Stitcher? Well, you can get them on the go and you don't have to download them.
• A library of headlines -- posts read aloud from sites like TechCrunch and Macworld. It might seem silly to some, but for commuters it's a great way to hear what your favorite sites are writing about.
• Even more content from people like NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, Slate, CNN, The Onion and many others.
• A "station" model like Pandora. The idea is to "stitch" together a station of the stuff you like. Maybe you like a little offbeat humor, a little financial news and then wind down with Engadget headlines. Stitcher can do that.
• Stitcher is also pretty good at recommending content, so it becomes a discovery tool (again, like Pandora). The pre-configured stations are excellent and grouped around content. One of note: Short Attention Span -- all shows are under 3 minutes.
• You can choose to enable an account with Stitcher, providing a connected experience from the web to your iPhone.
• The app itself has a history feature (handy and underrated), an excellent search function and a way to favorite stations.
• Since Stitcher has a web presence, you're also able to get alerts via email or SMS when fresh content arrives. You can set this for any station or broadcast.

Gallery: Stitcher 2.0

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us which radio station you want to listen to using Wunder Radio.
• The comment must be left before April 8, 5:00PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Twenty winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: one license code for Wunder Radio ($5.99 value)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

If you're not watching the presidential debate tonight, and you feel like more Mac news is what you need, then pop over to Shawn King's Your Mac Life show -- live now, 8:30 pm ET -- and tune in for MacBook discussion and more. I'll be on the show for the segment starting at about 9:20 pm to discuss your responses to the loss of Firewire on the MBs and more.

Your Mac Life is online at yourmaclifeshow.com and is streamed in QuickTime for your listening pleasure.

Update: The show archive is here -- thanks Shawn, and sorry about the coughing.

You may already use one of several different Dashboard widgets for listening to BBC radio programmes over the net; but the team at BBC Labs has just released a new one that offers something a bit different.

It's part of a wider project called Radio Pop that turns radio listening into a social activity. As long as you're listening to your BBC programmes via the Radio Pop player (available in-browser or, as I said at the start, as a widget), you can "Pop" your favourites - in other words, flag them.

Your Radio Pop profile page shows what you've been listening to. Your Pops show the things you liked most, and give you quick access to programme information pages. Right now it's limited to live radio streams, but plans are underway to add the BBC's Listen Again output as well, which will make it much more interesting. (Developers: there's an API for you to play with, too.)

Since I'm in the UK, I haven't been able to confirm that this works elsewhere; YMMV. One additional requirement for making it work is a copy of Real Player, which the BBC uses for all its radio streams. Download it via the links on this BBC help page and you'll get a version that doesn't come laden with ads.