Understanding the economic crisis: depressing but better than nothing

Posted at 1:13 PM Oct 06, 2008

By Bonnie Ruberg

As someone who can't stand sitting still and hearing the sound of her own thoughts, I've taken to listening to podcasts as I travel around the city of San Francisco on the wonder that is public transportation. Most recently I've joined the hordes of over-educated hipsters and started adoring This American Life. It makes me go all tingly; I just can't explain it. This week's episode, which I listened to hours ago, wasn't so sexy though. Titled "Another Frightening Show about the Economy," it tried to explain for all the confused masses (e.g. me) just what the heck is going on with our economy right now. Why is the government forking over so much of our money? And why, if we're really in an economic crisis, do I still feel fine going out, seeing movies, and buying cute fall clothes?

While it may not be the happiest topic of conversation for a Monday morning, I do recommend downloading and listening to the show. No, it won't make you any less depressed. In fact, it may make you more so. But as an average American nobody, I know it helps me to do something, even something as little as listening to a radio show, at a time when it seems like there's nothing at all I can do to help get my country, our future, and all those pennies I've squirreled from going down the crapper. It's sort of like going to see An Inconvenient Truth, except you don't get to hear Melissa Etheridge sing at the end.