Weeknotes: March 30–April 3, 2026

Monday, March 30

The young college DJ announces she'll close out her afternoon show with They Might Be Giants' "Birdhouse in Your Soul," an old favorite of mine. There's a period of dead air, followed by about ten seconds of the song's intro, then more dead air. An acoustic guitar track I don't recognize makes a couple false starts, then after another long gap Arcade Fire's "Sprawl II" begins to play. A change of heart, I think, but no — it too goes quiet. An additional seven or eight seconds of dead air (an eternity on radio), then finally, the marquee event: "I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend…" 

There was a time when I would have turned the dial, but I've been so smitten with WCBN lately. As AI becomes more intrusive and our trust in the authenticity of content erodes, I think we are instinctively attracted to what feels human. You can't fake inexperience. Hearing someone fumbling around learning the ropes on live radio gives me more pleasure than the edgeless infinity of algorithmic curation.

A few hours later I'm sitting on a lawn chair outside the back door, squinting at my laptop and enjoying the warm sunny afternoon. Islay stands next to the Mexican blanket I laid out for her, browsing a menu of sticks to eat.  All of a sudden a wild turkey runs around the side of the house, sees her, and vaults itself noisily over the back fence. My dog is unphased, but a minute later she goes crazy barking at a guy walking by out front. I wave hello and he asks "did you just see a turkey?"