It's the audio equivalent of cord-cutting.
You will likely need a smart-phone or an iPod Touch if you don't already have one. (there does not seem to be a non-phone PDA equivalent in the other handheld environments anymore. But for this purpose, you don't need a current model, just something with working wifi and a working audio jack, and if you're committed to an anything but Apple stance, you can use a prior generation android smart-phone and just not add it to a cell account. Just be warned that an iPod Touch is probably the easiest solution for a non-technical person. You can use a regular MP3 player that has a media card, but you'll have to be prepared to download to a media card, then move the media card from computer to player, so judge your technical abilities and frustration level.)
The simple process is this: You 1) subscribe to a bunch of podcasts on subjects that interest you, 2) tell your subscriptions to download at a convenient time for you, 3) plug your device into your computer to sync & charge or attach it to your wifi network (depends on device) 4) pull your charged device before you leave, 5) plug it into your car stereo, and press play. Repeat 3-5 as needed. Audiobooks work mostly the same way (depends on vendor, though Audible/Amazon is the most common), and music streaming can work as either a streaming service (which does require a data plan) or via a podcast model. (I do not like commercial music radio, but I do like staying current with music, so there are some curated music podcasts I listen to.) Or just assemble some playlists and keep some music on your device.
Podcasts are usually free. Some are daily, some are weekly. A small percentage are subscription only or have additional content by subscription. The big podcast universes are Stitcher, Spotify, Apple and SoundCloud; usually if a podcast is on one, it will be on all the others. Go look at the platforms and see which interface catches your eye. Most podcasts have a HUGE backlog, so if you find one that interests you, there's a good chance you will have hundreds or thousands of hours available. Most podcasts are now ad supported, but usually, an ad supported podcast has 1 minute of commercial per 15-20 minutes of content, which compares very favorably against all broadcast media.
Audiobooks are usually available on a buy/subscribe basis. Audible has a newish channel service that is something like Netflix streaming and that service is available with a Prime membership. A book a month plan is $15 or $150 a year, or 2 for $23/$230 a year. If you're already a kindle reader, there are a lot of audiobooks available to add on to your kindle copies, for a low price ($3-7 is usual).
Music streaming does require a data plan, but it's not that bad. Spouse uses his data plan to stream music at work (he doesn't like to put his personal phone on the work network) and I watch his bill carefully. He's got "unlimited" streaming (we use TMobile) but he gets throttled above 5GB a month. He's never gotten above 4GB, despite streaming 8 hours a day, several days a week. It depends on your location, how available good service is for you, but it's also not at all necessary.
The downsides: it's not perfectly seamless, the way turning on a radio is. You have to select what you want to hear, and have to be responsible for knowing your device and your computer. It requires conscious attention, which isn't a bad thing, and we'd probably all be better off if we spent more time being conscious of our media diets. It requires an initial outlay for the hardware, but that hardware is a one-time investment. (Refurb iPod touches run about $70-100, maybe lower.) If you don't plan to hear something, you'll have to wait and remember to add it to your next download. It works best if you're regularly returning to one place where you have a solid, maintained network connection. (I wouldn't recommend this for OTR truckers, unless they are already comfortable with this process.) It's easiest if you already have a home wifi network and you're already comfortable with hardware, but that's true of all cord-cutting. And having made conscious decisions about your media diet, be aware that the first few days or weeks will feel uncomfortable, just like being on a food diet. It's a change in habit, and one of the reasons radio persists is because it provides a regular poke at our emotional centers and reactions. Hate radio works because it's constantly provoking emotional outrage, and that outrage is addictive. (There's a body of evidence that people who are already feeling stressed by their circumstances find hate radio gives them emotional fuel, and their brains in fMRI look a little like they've gotten a tiny hit of meth after hearing something inflammatory. All talk radio seems to work on this principle; a reason progressive radio is less successful may be because the people attracted to progressive radio are less susceptible to or don't want that outrage fuel.)
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