Good Wood

This is a picture of a recent purchase I love. I call it my Amish high-tech device—a wooden iPod speaker. Is the sound quality great? No (it's the primary complaint in the few reviews online). But it's perfect for my needs (which says a lot about me).

I actually rarely listen to the music on my iPod. What I listen to when I run or am taking the bus to or from work is public radio. My favorite shows include All Things Considered (I listen to Morning Edition, but too often it feels like medicine), The Splendid Table, The State We're In (consistently excellent, with the superb host Jonathan Groubert), This American Life, On the Media, The Moth Radio Hour. I also spend a lot of time in the car—well, actually I don't by American standards; the last time I took my car in for servicing, the guy said, "You don't drive very much, do you?" But the drive to D.'s house can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, and it's at least a half hour from my place to see my parents, so when I am driving it's usually for longish stretches.

Washington radio, except for the public stations, in particular WAMU, is terrible. I guess all commercial radio is. And I often find myself driving or going for a run when one of my favorite shows is just ending, or when I have to get out of the car mid-show, or when the show isn't even on, or—more important—when my least favorite public-radio program is on. Etc.

So I finally took a chance on this little device from the Museum of Modern Art, which I'd seen in New York magazine probably a year or more ago. Now I listen to podcasts as I drive and don't miss a thing.

And the cuteness is through the roof.