Many New Englanders who listened to public radio in the late twentieth century fondly remember the patient, gently eccentric classical-music show “Morning Pro Musica,” from WGBH. Its host, Robert J. Lurtsema, was affectionately known in many households as “Robert J.” The show was not too harsh, not too loud, not too fast. Lurtsema spoke in placid tones; he was unafraid to pause, at length. (“I’m not afraid of dead air,” he once said.) But the show’s true magic came from its birds. “Morning Pro Musica” began like the dawn—with several minutes of birdsong, chirping and warbling, which eventually transitioned into, say, Bach. It provided a frisson of joy, reminding us why we might want to get up in the first place.
The BBC Radio 3 show “Slow Radio,” which is available as a podcast, has a similar effect. On it, in episodes of fifteen minutes to half an hour, you can listen to sounds of the natural world—the Kalahari Desert, a mountain climb in the Lake…
