This week's episode of Sound Effect contains adult language that, while "bleeped," 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.
Table For One
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.
Playing Against Yourself
We follow lunch with a beverage 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 solitairethat you and almost everyone you know has spent (wasted/invested) hours and hours of time playing.
Solo Hike
What would you do if five hours into a hike you realized that you were really, really lost? When that happened to Sarah Brandabur it took another 31 hours before she found a nice dog and a kind man and a Taylor Swift-loving sheriff who helped her get hydrated and back to safety.
Lonely Together
Roger Valdez can be a polarizing figure. He works for Smart Growth Seattle and advocates 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 bittersweet lonelinessat the core of urban life.
Bleep Off
Paulette Perhach, like many, struggles with saving money. The essayist shares some personal-finance wisdomearned the hard way, about why it’s important for a young person to sock away enough money that she can easily walk away from a bad situation.
No One Dies Alone
St. Peter’s Hospital in Olympia is one of many hospitals with a program for people who find themselves alone at the end of their lives. The No One Dies Alone program links volunteers with people in their final days, providing them quiet companionshipthrough the last breath.
