I’d forgotten about CB radio, honestly; it’s not something I have much occasion to think about, unless it comes up in a movie. But while reading Levy’s article, I was suddenly reminded of hearing about the very uses he was talking about, back when I was a kid, but I was also reminded of growing up during those nascent stages of the contemporary Internet and how incredibly exciting it was to make a website. Join a chatroom. Find a forum. That desire to connect with others was so strong that it’s always surprised me that people still tend to fall back on the idea that digital connections aren’t real. That even though meeting people online for dates has become wildly common, there remains some lingering cultural pushback around the phenomenon. But then it occurred to me that it’s only been twenty years or so, forty since those days of the CB wilds, and as quickly as technology changes now, attitudes aren’t always quite as fast. Still, it’s fascinating to think about that desire for connection laid against all the ways we also try to deny (or decry) it.

I was also much interested in his short history of educational podcasts here. I was a big listener of iTunes U casts for a while, particularly creative writing lectures, because they expanded access to things like writers’ retreats and conferences that I’d never be able to afford. Sure, they lack the human component, but to have the recorded lectures there, available while I did dishes or cut the grass or whatever, was such a revelation to me before I came to grad school.