16. Finding the quiet in a noisy world (and a noisy World Cup)

Ted watches Japan vs Sweden in the dead of night during one of Britain’s recent heatwaves, and recalls David Foster Wallace’s parable of fish unaware of water. But the potential joy of watching a simple game of World Cup football is drowned out by political noise, punditry, commercial spectacle, fears and worries. As the match progresses in silence, he listens to WhatsApp voice messages from his friend, Adrian, who reflects on David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King, and Ireland’s ’Saipan’ incident from the World Cup of 2002, and attention and nostalgia, and the joy of… well, of just not knowing. How do we turn off the sound on life? Co-read and co-produced with Adrian McHugh.Links!Roy Keane Interview: https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0527/877093-exclusive-interview-with-roy-keane/This Is Water by David Foster Wallace: https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/David Foster Wallace Interview: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thistimetomorrowpod.substack.com