SONG: KGOD Late Night Bertrand Russell
This is station Kay Gee Oh Dee…
Kay-God…
the station that makes it…
[LOW ELECTRICAL HUM]
[OLD AM RADIO STATIC]
[DISTANT THUNDER]
[SOFT HAMMOND ORGAN]
[FAINT JAZZ BRUSHES]
[SHORTWAVE BURSTS]
Good evening, night travelers…
truth seekers…
insomniacs…
former revolutionaries…
and those of you currently hiding from reality in parked cars…
You’ve found us again…
Broadcasting softly through the static from somewhere between here and Greenwich Village… and the sharp edge of the hydrogen age…
This… is kay gee oh dee, Kay GOD, After Midnight.
Kay God, The station that makes it.
[SHORT PAUSE]
Tonight’s program:
ghosts of the atomic century…
peace marches in the rain…
civil defense jazz…
and a few survivors still wandering through the fallout carrying handmade signs.
[GEIGER COUNTER CLICKS VERY SOFTLY]
Some of you younger listeners may not remember the old days…
when schoolchildren practiced hiding beneath wooden desks…
as if plywood might negotiate with thermonuclear fire.
Back then the world lived by sirens.
Everybody waiting for somebody else to push the button.
Everybody smiling too hard, enjoying it less.
Everybody pretending everything was normal.
[OLD FILM PROJECTOR SOUND]
I remember mimeograph ink…
cold mornings…
wet cardboard protest signs…
bad coffee…
cheap cigarettes…
and old men speaking quietly about the possible end of civilization.
One of the people I met at that party was Bertrand Russell, the virtual head of the see enn vee ay, committee for non-violent action, which I promptly joined.
Very bright fellow.
Looked like a thunderstorm wearing a necktie.
[SOFT JAZZ PIANO ENTERS]
And no… he did not sound insane.
That was the disturbing part.
He sounded reasonable.
[STATIC BURST]
We’ll return to Lord Russell in a moment…
but first tonight’s Kay GOD Community Bulletin.
[CHEERFUL 1950s ANNOUNCER MUSIC]
This portion of Kay GOD after midnight is brought to you by
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two flashlights, some batteries,
a patriotic wall calendar,
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Remember:
if civilization collapses… so what?
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because freedom deserves proper ventilation.
This…
is station Kay Gee Oh Dee…
Kay-God…
the station that makes it.
[LOW TUBA NOTE]
[DISTANT TRAIN HORN]
You know…
people think history feels historic while it’s happening.
Usually it doesn’t.
Usually it feels like confusion…
paper cups…
wet shoes…
and somebody losing the permits.
That’s what the peace marches felt like.
Not glamorous.
Human.
People trying.
And honestly…
that may have been the most beautiful part.
[PHONE LINE CLICK]
Ah…
looks like we have a caller.
CALLER:
Yeah…
It’s me, I thought I’d give you a call.
HOST:
Welcome to Kay GOD, you’re on the air.
CALLER:
I still got my old civil defense booklet.
HOST:
The yellow one?
CALLER:
Yep.
“Twelve Simple Steps for Surviving Nuclear War.”
HOST:
Did it help?
CALLER:
Only with insomnia.
[SOFT LAUGHTER]
HOST:
Fair enough.
[SHORTWAVE STATIC SWELLS]
Coming up after the break:
an exclusive interview with Bertrand Russell…
broadcast live from the Department of Posthumous Reasoning.
But first…
music for those staring quietly into the machinery of the modern world…
This is Kay GOD After Midnight.
kay gee oh dee, kay-god, the station…
that makes it.
Be seeing you.
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Here’s the Bardo bus.
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See You At The Top!!!
gorby