Reverberations

Hey Friends,

It was at a staff meeting when the seven of us were talking about octopus consciousness that I had this feeling of having found my people. If you’ve discovered me here, it’s most likely through my work at To the Best of Our Knowledge, the national public radio show I worked on for the past eight years, along with the most amazing producers, hosts, sound engineers and editors. If you’ve been listening, you’re my people, too.

This past weekend, we aired our final show, as we’ve been “sunset.” If you’re a TTBOOK fan, you might like to see the instagram reel about the 35-year history of the show. And, you should know that all 35 years – every episode – will be archived in the TTBOOK Collection of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, which is a collaboration of the Library of Congress and GBH (yes, we saved old reels from a forgotten basement life).

It was a dream to work on shows about whales, puzzles, saints, and always, poetry. I’d like to leave you today with some TTBOOK sounds.

The sounds of New York City – On Pilgrimage With Dorothy Day

Plant sounds  - Plant Intelligence

Whale sounds  - Listening to Whales

Geological sounds – Deep Time: How the Earth Keeps Time

Owl sounds – Avian Obsessions

K-Pop sounds – Taking Pop Seriously

Human body sounds – Your Miraculous and Mysterious Body

Many people have been asking me about the future of public radio after the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the end of production of our show. I believe there is a vital future in public media and you can see through TTBOOK what can be created in this landscape. But I also think as public media transforms, the "public" will need to be even more involved - through support by donations, community involvement and listening. I feel like public radio is part of my community, my people, too, forever.

Thanks to all who wrote last time about what you’re reading, and writing. Please be in touch anytime at shannonhenrykleiber@gmail.com. New this week -  I decided to open comments on Cadence. If it gets too bot-taken-over I’ll stop but wouldn’t it be fun to talk with each other about books and whatever else you’d like to say? Thanks for being here.

– Shannon