I’ve often asserted that I’d rather have my teeth drilled than listen to Jerome McDonald’s WorldView on WBEZ, with its stultifying earnestness, glacial pacing, and overall tone that the world’s in a baby carriage headed down a San Francisco hill. Now, I have to take that back. Today began the excavation work for a new crown, and to cover the whine of the jackhammers and take my mind somewhere else, I tuned in the show on the dentist’s Walkman. At least I could listen to McDonald’s guest talk distractedly about Filipino insurgents and pretend I was in a college lecture hall miles away.
Unfortunately, when Milosz Whatshisname came on and gave his thoughts on the Berlin Film Festival (which I swear is what he talks about every single time I’m unfortunate enough to be within earshot when he’s being broadcast), the choice was not so cut and dried. If I’d been able to see the controls through my protective eyewear, and I hadn’t had half a hardware store hanging out of my mouth, I would’ve sought out traffic reports.