This week's episode of "Sound Effect" contains adult language that may not be suitable for all audiences.
"Sound Effect" is your weekly tour of ideas, inspired by the place we live. The show is hosted by KPLU's Gabriel Spitzer. For this episode, the Sound Effect staff brings us stories of going solo.
Who does food talker Nancy Leson love to go out to eat with? Her dang self. This week’s show starts with a musing on the joys of eating out and eating alone.
We follow lunch with some cider at Dragon’s Head Cider on Vashon where Gabriel Spitzer meets cider maker and long time-hero to loners of the world, Wes Cherry. Cherry explains how long before he was in the business of fermented apples, he worked as an intern at Microsoft and invented the version of solitaire that you and almost everyone you know has spent (wasted/invested) hours and hours of time playing.
What would you do if five hours into a hike you realized that you were really, really, really lost? That is what happened to Sarah Brandabur and it took another 31 hours before she found a nice dog and a lovely man and a Taylor Swift loving sheriff who all helped her get hydrated and back to safety.
Roger Valdez can be polarizing. Valdez works for Smart Growth Seattle and is an advocate for micro-housing. He, himself, lives in an "apodment." Valdez invited Gabriel Spitzer to his home for a (very brief) tour of the nearly 300-square-foot unit and a conversation about the strengths and pitfalls of loneliness.
Paulette Perhach, like many, struggles with saving money. The essayist outlines the fear and unfortunate circumstance a young woman can find herself in when she doesn’t have the money to walk away from a bad situation.
St. Peter’s Hospital in Olympia is one of many hospitals with a program for the sick and lonely. The No One Dies Alone program links volunteers with those in their last hours so that the terminally ill have quiet companionship through to the last breath.
