Radiolab, and new crap headphones of joy

Two delightful, apropos-of-nothing but related events:

First, a new season of WNYC's Radiolab launched the other day. This is my favorite of the podcasts that I discovered last year. It's a science show not quite like any other, keenly intelligent and inquisitive with a fun and conversational attitude. It features two good-humored hosts and a wide range of interesting guests. What really sets it apart, though, is its surprisingly high audio production values. They make the experience of listening to an episode full of delightful surprises, continually mixing in subtle and original sound effects, and making sparing but creative use of actors' voices for occasional dramatizations.

The audio is so good, actually, that I wouldn't let myself listen to my freshly downloaded copy for several days because the left speaker on my earphones blew out, meaning that what I have come to think of as my semiannual headphone subscription needed a renewal. (And why is it always the left one? Eh.) One ear was good enough for most of my other mostly-talking podcast subscriptions, but not this one. I finally got to hear it today, when I swung by CVS for a new pair.

And this leads me to the other small delight today, the Philips earbuds I selected. First of all, at six dollars, the price is right; if they can hold out for six months I'll be happy with them. More than that, though, was the packaging. Like most small electronics nowadays, its blister-pack was constructed of apparently bulletproof packaging. Even though I wanted to go get cuppa coffee first, I was resigned to needing to schlep back home and further dull my kitchen scissors in order to pry the thing open.

Just to make sure, though, I examined the package as I started to walk home, and imagine my delight at discovering that its cardboard backing was perforated, with a friendly little "press here to open" tab, like a box of detergent. So I did, and within a minute I was listening to Radiolab in both ears and had deposited the remains of my purchase (as well as my old headphones) neatly into a sidewalk trash bin. And from there, I went to go get coffee and a cupcake. I tell you, I could not be happier.