An acid filled lake and the lack of TV

I don't have TV and haven't for more than five years. That's not what this post is about though.

Now living alone and in the purposeful absence of the distraction of television, one thing I found I missed was a human-voice-told story.

I missed listening.

To fulfill that desire, I turned to things like Internet radio shows. One of my favorites is Radiolab. 

The show is supported in part by The National Science and Alfred P. Sloan Foundations and is about curiosity "where sound illuminates ideas and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy and human experience," according to its about web page.

I felt like it was designed for me.

Hosts Jad Abumrad, Robert Krulwich, a crew of producers with a slew of experts and common people have been able to create eleven seasons (and counting) of clever, unusual, enlightening and sometimes extraordinary stories for Radiolab. Broadcast on public radio, it is also available - for free - to stream or download. Of course donations are always welcome.

This week's episode, called "Oops," talks about mistakes and begins with a news organization that changed a 2008 AP story about an Olympic contender from Gay to homosexual, not such a big deal except the man's last name is Gay. The next segment tells a darker truth about the Unibomber; then comes the Cupertino effect - idiotic errors caused by over reliance on spellcheckers; and then on to the 1964 death of the oldest living tree ever.

There is a segment on the death of a man during an attempt by the Forest Service to protect a bird and its worth compared to his worth. I stayed on the fence for that one, believed the man died for something he felt passionately about ... until the reporter interviewed his family. His mother put my perspective straight.

Finally, a copper industry mining operation in Montana, abandoned in the 1980s left exposed slopes of pyrite embedded rock. When combined with naturally occurring water and air, the result was an ever growing lake - 40 billion gallons of water - turned to acid. A pit of death for anything that touches it ... or not.

"Oops" gives us a glimpse of how some of our actions, in hindsight, look right now. Ironically in the end it shows how an acid lake of death supports life.

I enjoyed listening to these human stories and still don't miss TV. 

And one thing has nothing to do with the other ... or not.