Why It's Dangerous to Listen to TAL Podcasts On the Bus

You may think I'm being over dramatic, or just too worried about what the outside public world thinks of me as I walk down the street and/or sit on the bus, but I have to tell you, listening to This American Life podcasts while doing one, the other or both of these activities can be an embarrassing, unwanted way of calling attention to yourself. Exponentially worse if there is anything on the episode written and read by David Sedaris and. Do I have to tell you how much of a work out I get clenching my stomach muscles so that I don't erupt into belly laughter of the deepest, sincerest variety? And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then I encourage you to visit this website and find out for yourself! In a 55 minute program, I can ride the roller coaster down the slope of out loud laughter and the slow climb up the track of openly weeping. At home, that's fine. The tears can flow and my mascara stained cheeks scare no one but me. The bus--especially a full one where you are forced to sit next to someone-- isn't exactly the most convenient venue for being ambushed by some writer's ability to pull at my insides, squeeze them until it smarts and make my eyes water because, goshdarnit!, i get what s/he is saying! How did s/he know that I'd felt that way, too? And the laughing--well, there are enough people spontaneously bursting into laughter on the buses who aren't listening to anything that anyone else would be able to hear, if you catch my drift.

Ah, but then don't listen to the podcasts when you're walking or taking the bus. Easy for you to say. A long bus ride out to Northgate is the perfect opportunity to hear an episode, makes the trip more enjoyable. They're called PODcasts for a reason, yes? To be listened to on the iPOD? Assuming that's your mode of mp3 delivery. I try listening at home, but I get distracted by things. The crossword puzzle. The dusting (ha! right. As if I actually have done that in months! Ahhh...I kill myself....)

Check out the episode called "In Dog We Trust" to see what I'm talking about...it's probably not available as a podcast anymore, but you can listen for free on TAL's website. (I think you can just put the title in the search function and find it that way....) Go forth and listen to some radio!