we can work it out

I loves me some PBS, and you should all watch this. Bill Moyers interviews Daniel Goleman, who explains how increased awareness of the "life cycle" of products through green advocacy and things like GoodGuide can result in using the structure of our consumer-oriented society for the good of the environment. Because I'm a trendy motherfucker, I got the GoodGuide iPhone app and now reserve the right to look down my nose at the rest of you plebeians.

"Interview" isn't quite the right word to use for Bill Moyers, because what he does on his show isn't a series of questions, but instead an extraordinarily in-depth and nuanced conversation. Actually, there's usually two, and Moyers always does his homework, asking tough questions and expecting intelligent answers, which his guests invariably supply. In his own way, Moyers is even better than PBS's other two gems, Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley (sorry, Joe), because their shows are somewhat personality-driven. They focus on the people themselves, while Moyers focuses on the issues. That being said, Charlie Rose is the greatest interviewer on Earth and his show should be required viewing for American citizenship.

This is a show that simply wouldn't be possible on a for-profit channel. It's absolutely inconcievable that any 24-hour news channel would devote 20 uninterupted minutes to a one-on-one conversation on one topic with someone who nobody's ever heard of, no matter how relevant the topic or crucial the information. It really highlights how the purpose of news channels is simply to entertain, rather than inform.

The things we consume, the shows we watch, they all matter. How we spend our leisure time is one of the things that defines us as people, and so much of it is simply wasted. Time is a non-renewable resource, and all of us (ESPECIALLY me) need to use it better.